42 dead in Yemen suicide attacks claimed by ISIS

Officials said that southeastern city of Mukalla had "witnessed five suicide attacks in four areas"

A wave of suicide bombings targeting Yemeni troops killed at least 42 people in the southeastern city of Mukalla, officials said, in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

The capital of Hadramawt province, Mukalla had been under the control of Al-Qaeda for one year until pro-government troops backed by a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city in April.

But ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks yesterday, saying in a statement that eight of its suicide bombers killed 50 members of Yemen's security forces, according to US-based monitor SITE Intelligence Group.

The governor of the vast province, Ahmed Saeed bin Breyk, said previously that Mukalla had "witnessed five suicide attacks in four areas".

Three simultaneous bombings hit security checkpoints in the coastal city at sunset, just as troops fasting during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan were breaking their fast, a security official said.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber on a motorbike asked soldiers if he could eat with them before blowing himself up, the official said.

Two other bombers approached soldiers on foot elsewhere in the city before detonating their explosives.

Shortly afterwards, two suicide bombers launched a fourth attack and blew themselves up at the entrance of an army camp, the official said.

In all, the attacks killed 40 soldiers as well as a woman and child who were passing by and wounded 37 other people, said Hadramawt's health chief Riad al-Jalili.

Al-Qaeda retains a strong presence in Mukalla, and the jihadists still control several towns in the interior valley of Wadi Hadramawt.

Last month, the Pentagon said a "very small number" of US military personnel had been deployed around Mukalla in support of pro-government forces.

The US Navy has several ships nearby, including an amphibious assault vessel, the USS Boxer, and two destroyers.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has been based in Yemen since 2009.

Both it and the ISIS group have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict in the impoverished country to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

In May, a suicide bombing claimed by ISIS and a second blast killed 47 police in Mukalla -- a city of 200,000 people.