Blast kills governor of Yemen's Aden, 6 guards

Yemeni security officials on Sunday said a huge explosion has killed the governor of Aden and six of his bodyguards.

Gov. Gaafar Mohamed Saad was traveling to his office in a convoy on Sunday morning when the explosion took place in the Rimbaud area of the southern port city, officials said. Authorities are investigating the exact cause of the explosion.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.

On Saturday, masked gunmen have killed a prominent judge who was known for sentencing Al-Qaeda militants to prison in Aden.

Police said gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Judge Mohsen Alwan’s vehicle in Aden’s Mansoura neighborhood, killing him and three others.

No one immediately claimed the attack, but officials suspect Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch was behind it. Al-Qaeda militants have previously used motorcycles in their assassinations.

Pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition drove Shiite Houthi rebels out of Aden earlier this year. But a local Al-Qaeda affiliate has exploited the chaos of Yemen’s conflict to seize territory in the country’s south and east, and has a growing presence in Aden.