Yemen’s governor killed in car bombing claimed by Islamic State

A local official and residents said at least six members of General Jaafar Mohammed Saad’s entourage also died in the attack, which targeted the governor on his way to work. Several other people were wounded.

The attack came in the Tawahi district of Aden, where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has returned to oversee a war against Iran-allied Houthis.

Islamic State, in a statement posted on a messaging service, said it detonated a car laden with explosives as Saad’s convoy passed by. The group promised more operations against “the heads of apostasy in Yemen”.

The group also posted what it said were photos of the booby-trapped vehicle as a white van carrying Saad drove past, then two other photos of a huge ball of fire which it said were taken as the bomb exploded.

A local official and residents said earlier on Sunday a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into the governor’s car.

The attack came a day after assailants killed a senior army officer and a judge who had presided over the trial of militants suspected in the bombing of the U.S. warship USS Cole in Aden in 2000, in two separate attacks in the city.