49 die in Yemen suicide attack

At least 49 persons were killed and 39 injured in a suicide bombing that targeted government forces in Yemen's Aden city on Sunday, an official said.

According to an intelligence source, a suicide attacker detonated his explosive belt near the soldiers gathered to receive their salaries in KhorMaksar area, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ambulances and police vehicles evacuated the dead and wounded to hospitals.

The Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group frequently targets military bases in the country.

The southern port city of Aden is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally-backed President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government.The assault comes less than two weeks after a similar attack claimed by the Yemen-based affiliate of the IS struck an army base near Aden's international airport, leaving 50 soldiers dead and 40 injured.

Aden witnessed several assassinations and attacks after Saudi-backed forces drove the Shia Houthi rebels out from the strategic city in 2015.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al Qaeda militancy in the Middle East.

The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of attacks against the country's army and governmental institutions.

The AQAP and the IS-linked terrorists took advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.