Yemen Conflict: Governor Of Aden Killed In IS Attack

The governor of Yemen’s port city of Aden, Major-General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, has been killed in an attack along with six of his bodyguards. ISIL says it was responsible.

The governor of Yemen’s second city Aden was killed on Sunday by a auto bomb that tore through a residential neighbourhood, a local official and witnesses said.

Major General Jafar Mohammed Saad, the newly appointed governor of Aden, was killed while passing through Tawahi district towards his workplace, a military official said.

It promised more operations against “the heads of apostasy in Yemen”.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has also exploited the lawlessness and chaos brought by the Yemen civil war. IS has claimed a string of attacks in Yemen, including the bombing of Hadi’s government headquarters in October and multiple suicide attacks on mosques in Sanaa attended by Shiite worshippers that killed scores.

Yemen’s civil war has been raging for eight months and and United Nations is hoping to organise talks later this month between the government, lead by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who support former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In July, the rebels were driven out of Aden by government forces and militias loyal to them.

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No one has so far claimed those attacks. Hard road to Geneva Mistrust runs deep between Yemen’s warring parties, with the Houts believing the government wants to take back power by force and Hadi officials saying that the Houthis are refusing to withdraw from main cities as required by a UN Security Council Resolution passed in March.

Saudi Arabia-which views the Houthis as a proxy of its chief regional rival, Iran-responded by assembling a coalition in March and beginning airstrikes to unseat the group.

Islamic State declared its presence in November and have carried out a number of attacks since then. Al-Qaeda-linked groups have also taken control of territory, including the port of Mukalla in April, and the cities of Zinjibar and Jaar in Abyan province on Wednesday.