Several Killed, Wounded in Suicide Attack in Yemen’s Aden

Ten civilians and members of the police were killed in a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Reuters)
Ten civilians and members of the police were killed in a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Reuters)
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Several Killed, Wounded in Suicide Attack in Yemen’s Aden

Ten civilians and members of the police were killed in a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Reuters)
Ten civilians and members of the police were killed in a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. (Reuters)

Ten civilians and members of the police were killed on Tuesday in a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, said police sources.

ISIS’ affiliate in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack that took place at a building in the Sheikh Othman district in the central part of the city.

Residents several kilometers (miles) away heard a large explosion and saw thick black smoke rising from the area.

The attack caused panic in this densely populated area, which is busy with schools, markets and street vendors.

Ambulances rushed to the site, where the building was badly damaged, and debris and body parts littered the area.

According to medical officials, six soldiers were killed but officials believe the death toll will rise. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.

ISIS claimed responsibility in an online statement, hours after the attack. It named the suicide bomber as Abu Hagar al-Adani, which indicates the attacker hailed from Aden.

The security building is an operations center for the UAE-trained Security Belt, a parallel body to the government's forces.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.