At least five killed and 40 injured in car bomb blast near Aden's airport in Yemen

An explosive-laden car detonated at an intersection near the main gate of the airport

Security personnel inspect the site of a car bomb explosion outside Aden International Airport, in Aden, southern Yemen. Reuters

At least five civilians – including a child – were killed in the blast, with 40 injured, officials said. Some unconfirmed reports putting the death toll at 12. AFP

The device went off in a car parked at an intersection near the main gate of Aden International Airport. AFP

The bomb also destroyed nearby vehicles. AFP

A crowd gathers at the scene of the explosion outside Aden International airport. Reuters

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels displaced the internationally recognised government in parts of the country. Reuters

At least five people, including a child, were killed and 40 injured when a car bomb exploded near the international airport in Aden, in southern Yemen, on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

An explosives-laden car detonated at an intersection near the main gate of Aden International Airport, Brig Ali Al Awlaki, head of the Aden security operations room that links all security units in the city, told The National.

No flights have been suspended and the airport is fully operational, Captain Mutalq Al Daghfali, the liaison officer at the Aden airport, told The National.

Many of the casualties were young people and children who frequented a grocery store and an internet cafe that stand at the intersection, he said.

The bomb in the parked car also destroyed many nearby vehicles.

“So far, we have received five dead bodies and 30 injured, Dr Aref Al Daeri at Al Jamhuria hospital told The National.

Another 10 of the wounded were taken to Al Bouraihi private hospital in Al Mansurah district. One of the wounded is in critical condition, Dr Al Daeri said.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels shelled a residential neighbourhood on Saturday, killing at least three children from the same family, AP reported.

Moammar Al Iryani, information minister of the internationally recognised government, said the Houthis fired a shell on the Camp neighbourhood on the outskirts of the government-held city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen.

He said at least six others were wounded, and posted images showing injured children.

The government-run Saba news agency reported that the Houthis fired an artillery round that landed in the neighbourhood.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.

A coalition of Arab nations intervened in the conflict in 2015, at the request of the Yemeni government.

On Thursday, a Houthi ballistic missile struck a residential neighbourhood in the central province of Marib, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding 16.