Aden: A suicide bomber killed at least 30 Yemeni soldiers on Sunday when he detonated his explosives at a gathering in the southern city of Aden, military officials and medics said.

Many others were wounded in the attack that targeted a crowd of soldiers gathered to collect their salaries at a base in northeastern Aden, the officials and medics said.

The attacker immersed himself among the soldiers at al-Solban base, in al-Arish district, a military official said.   

The attack comes eight days after a similar bombing in Aden claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 48 soldiers and wounded 29 others.

Yemeni authorities have for months pressed a campaign against jihadists who remain active in the south and east of the war-torn country.

IS and its jihadist rival Al-Qaeda have taken advantage of a conflict between the government and the Huthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa, to bolster their presence across much of the south.

The two groups have carried out a spate of attacks in Aden, Yemen’s second city and headquarters of the internationally recognised government whose forces retook the port from the Huthis last year.

But Al-Qaeda has distanced itself from the December 10 attack, claiming that it tends to avoids ‘the shedding of any Muslim blood’ while focusing on fighting the ‘Americans and their allies.’