Yemen conflict: Aden governor killed in IS attack

Islamic State militants say they are responsible for a blast that killed the governor of Yemen's port city of Aden.

Jaafar Mohammed Saad and several aides died when their convoy was hit. IS says it detonated a car laden with explosives as he drove by.

The group has established a presence in Yemen since its civil war broke out.

It is opposed to the government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

Earlier this year, Aden was recaptured by government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

Saad was appointed Aden governor in October.

Residents said that the explosion could be heard about seven miles (10km) away. Photo: Reuters

The BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says the killing of Saad is a blow to Saudi-led efforts to re-establish Aden as a secure base for the government which spent months in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Saad was a significant figure not just as the administrative head of Aden, but for the role he played in driving Houthi rebels out of the port city earlier this year, our correspondent says.

But Aden has remained vulnerable to violence with jihadists carrying out regular attacks.

The claim by IS introduces another dangerous factor into the equation, our correspondent says, because like the long established al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen, IS has gained strength from the violence and chaos of the past nine months of all-out conflict.

Saad's murder is also likely to complicate further the latest UN-led efforts to get a peace process under way.

IS has endeavoured to make the situation even worse, our correspondent says, by bombing mosques and killing captives in its trademark style of grotesque and horrifying showmanship.

Sunday's violence came after the UN envoy to Yemen met President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in Aden on Saturday in an effort to bring eight months of civil war to an end.

Air strikes and fighting on the ground in Yemen have killed more than 5,700 people since the Saudi-led coalition began a campaign to restore the government in March, according to the UN.

The UN hopes to organise talks later this month between the government and the Houthi rebels, who support former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Islamic State declared its presence in November and have carried out a number of attacks since then.