A suicide car bomb attack on an army training camp in Yemen's second city of Aden killed at least 71 people on Monday, medical sources said.
The Islamic State affiliated Amaq news agency released a statement from the group saying that it had carried out the attack.
An official told the AFP news agency that a suicide attacker drove his vehicle into a gathering of new recruits at the camp in northern Aden, warning that the death toll from the bombing could rise.
Three different hospitals have given reports on the number wounded for a total of 29.
"Security services are still evacuating the dead and wounded" from the site, the official said.
The port city, the temporary base of Yemen's Gulf-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.
Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in Aden over the past two months to as part of operations to retake neighboring southern provinces from jihadists.
Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition entered Abyan's provincial capital Zinjibar.
Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in key Al-Qaida stronghold, Al-Mahfid, a town which lies further east, security sources said.
The militants are still present in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of the neighboring Shabwa province, the sources say.
The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops with air cover throughout their war against the jihadists.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year and has helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces.
But authorities have been struggling to secure these provinces.
More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Yemen since March 2015 and more than 80 percent of the population has been left in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
The Islamic State affiliated Amaq news agency released a statement from the group saying that it had carried out the attack.
An official told the AFP news agency that a suicide attacker drove his vehicle into a gathering of new recruits at the camp in northern Aden, warning that the death toll from the bombing could rise.
Three different hospitals have given reports on the number wounded for a total of 29.
"Security services are still evacuating the dead and wounded" from the site, the official said.
The port city, the temporary base of Yemen's Gulf-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.
Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in Aden over the past two months to as part of operations to retake neighboring southern provinces from jihadists.
Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition entered Abyan's provincial capital Zinjibar.
Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in key Al-Qaida stronghold, Al-Mahfid, a town which lies further east, security sources said.
The militants are still present in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of the neighboring Shabwa province, the sources say.
The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops with air cover throughout their war against the jihadists.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year and has helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces.
But authorities have been struggling to secure these provinces.
More than 6,600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Yemen since March 2015 and more than 80 percent of the population has been left in need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
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