Aden explosion: senior security official the target of car bomb

Brig Gen Saleh Ali Al Dharhani survives assassination attempt in southern Yemen

The wreckage at the site of a previous deadly car bomb attack in the port city of Aden, Yemen, in March. AP

A car bomb exploded in Aden in Yemen on Sunday, close to a convoy carrying a high-ranking security official, several Yemeni media outlets reported.

Sources confirmed that Brig Gen Saleh Ali Al Dharhani, the commander of the joint operations forces in Aden, survived the assassination attempt on Sunday.

The powerful explosion took place in the Al Mualla district, initial reports indicated.

In late March, a car bomb in the southern city killed a senior military official and at least four others. The bombing hit the convoy of Maj Gen Thabet Jawas, commander of the Al Anad Axis in southern Yemen, officials said.

Aden has been the seat of the internationally recognised government since Houthi rebels seized the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014, starting the country’s conflict.

Sunday's attack came after the news that passenger flights from Yemen's Sanaa airport are expected to restart on Monday, after weeks of complications delayed the resumption.

The Yemeni army said the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly breached a two-month United Nations truce agreed by opposing sides. Both sides agreed to a two-month ceasefire, which came into effect early last month and could be extended, UN envoy Hans Grundberg said at the time.