19 December,2016 09:43 AM IST | | Agencies
City health chief says 50 hurt, death toll likely to mount due to ‘critical cases’
A wounded Yemeni receives treatment as he arrives at a hospital in Aden on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Aden: A suicide bomber from the IS killed at least 40 Yemeni soldiers in Aden yesterday, the latest in a string of deadly attacks against recruits in the country's second city.
Military officials and medics said many others were wounded in the attack that targeted a crowd of servicemen who had gathered to collect their salaries near a base in northeastern Aden.
"The number of those killed has exceeded 40 with some 50 others wounded," Aden health chief, Abdel Nasser al-Wali, said, adding that the death toll was likely to mount due to "critical cases".
Medics had initially given a toll of 30 dead. The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blended in among soldiers crowding outside the house of the head of special security forces in Aden, Colonel Nasser Sarea, in Al-Arish district, near Al-Sawlaban base. Sarea said the bomber "took advantage of the gathering and detonated his explosives among them".
IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that a "martyrdom seeker" had gotten through security checkpoints before blowing himself up.
