Dozens of people have been killed or wounded in two suicide car bombings in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, witnesses and local medics say.

Saturday's attack occurred outside the gate of a counterterrorism camp in the city's southwest, according to the witnesses.

The sources said the blasts caused civilian and military casualties.

Officials at Aden's main Jumhouriya hospital said the bodies of five victims, most of them soldiers, had arrived at the facility, along with a number of injured people including civilians, but gave no precise figures.

The attack on Saturday was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) via the group's Amaq website.

The attack took place in an area known as Gold Mohr in Aden's Tawahi district, where the force of the blast damaged civilian cars parked outside the camp and showered the street with debris.

Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government, has witnessed of late suicide bombings and blasts that target security officials.

The attacks are usually claimed by ISIL, also known as ISIS, or al-Qaeda's local affiliate.





Saturday's bombings were the first attack of its kind since gun battles erupted between southern separatists and the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi last month over control of Aden.

Residents described two large explosions in the area, where a cloud of grey smoke rose over the area, while ambulances raced to evacuate the wounded.

The residents initially said one of the bombers targeted an office of the separatist Southern Transitional Council, but a member of the group said there was no attack on the building.

Yemen has been locked in a power struggle since late 2014 between Hadi's government and Iran-allied Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and allies started an air campaign in Yemen against the Shia group when they started advancing towards Hadi's southern power seat of Aden.