ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The governor of Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz survived a roadside bomb that struck his convoy in Aden city on Tuesday, a security official said.
The motorcade of Taiz governor, Ameen Mahmoud, was targeted in a roadside bomb blast in Aden, where he met high-ranking government officials, the local security source said on condition of anonymity.
The governor escaped the explosion with minor wounds but a number of his companions were killed during the incident, the official said.
The explosion occurred just hours after the governor attended a meeting with senior officials of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government regarding the situation in Taiz, according to the source.
Witnesses told Xinhua that ambulances rushed to the bombing site in Aden's neighborhood of Enma while security forces were deployed around the area.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack but local Yemeni sources blamed militants of the Yemen-based al-Qaida branch for being behind such explosions.
Drive-by shooting attacks and roadside bomb blasts were escalated in Yemen's government-controlled province of Aden, triggering fears that terror groups might maintain presence in the southern city.
Government officials including high-ranking security commanders and intelligence officers have been the prime targets of armed attacks launched by unknown gunmen in recent days.
The southern port city of Aden is considered as Yemen's temporary capital and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government based itself there since 2015.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.
