At least 12 dead in Yemen as car explodes at Aden international airport

At least 12 civilians were killed Saturday in a suspected terror attack near the airport of Aden, the Yemeni government's interim capital, a senior security official said.

'Twelve civilians were killed in an explosion' in the vicinity of Aden airport and 'there are also serious injuries', said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding that the cause of the blast was unknown.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was an attack. One security source said the car exploded at an outer entrance to the airport near an airport hotel.

The explosion comes almost three weeks after six people were killed in a car-bomb attack that targeted Aden's governor, who survived.

Footage on Saturday showed people pulling out a body from a vehicle that had been completely destroyed, as firefighters put out flames nearby.

Moammar al-Iryani, information minister of the internationally recognized government, said at least six others were wounded, and posted graphic images showing wounded children.

The explosion damaged buildings and an internet cafe in the area. Footage circulated online showed ambulances, sirens wailing, rushing to the site.

Aden is the temporary home of Yemen's internationally-recognised government, which has as part of a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group for around seven years.

But tensions have also for years simmered within Aden itself between the government and southern separatist groups.

The government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) are nominal allies under the Saudi-led coalition.

The coastal city has been rocked by several explosions in the past years, which have been blamed on local affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have also targeted the city with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones.

Earlier this month a car bomb in Aden targeting a convoy carrying the city's governor - an STC member - killed at least six people and wounded others. The governor survived.

Instability in the south complicates United Nations-led peace efforts to end the war in Yemen which has killed tens of thousands of people and left 80 percent of the population needing help.

Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014 when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia.