Yemeni governor survives Al Qaeda bomb attack
ADEN, July 16, 2016
Yemen's al Qaeda wing has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that targeted the governor of the southern city of Aden, according to US monitoring group SITE.
Security officials said on Friday that a car packed with explosives blew up when the convoy of governor, Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, passed by in the Inma area of Aden. One soldier was wounded in the attack but Zubaidi was unhurt.
SITE cited a brief statement by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on its Telegram channel on Friday saying it had detonated a bomb in a parked vehicle.
It said both Zubaidi and Aden police chief, Shallal Shayei, were in the vehicle, but gave no further details.
A civil war has raged for more than a year in Yemen and insecurity has gripped the port city, the temporary seat of Yemen's embattled government.
Zubaidi was appointed governor of Aden after his predecessor was killed in a car bombing on Dec. 6 claimed by Islamic State, AQAP's main rival in Yemen. Attackers have tried several times before to kill him in car bomb blasts.
A mostly Gulf alliance led by Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in March to support the government and fight the Houthi movement, which it accuses of being a proxy for its regional arch-rival Iran.-Reuters