The Islamic State group claimed a major attack Sunday on Yemen s government bastion of Aden, which left eight police officers dead and sparked a hostage crisis that continued well into the day.
The claim of the suicide attack on the security forces in the southern port city was made online by the extremist group s Aden and Abyan Wilayah, which said "clashes are still ongoing".
Security officials in the southern province of Aden, where the Yemeni government is based, confirmed they were continuing to battle armed militants, who had taken hostages in a police department, hours after the first attacks hit.
A high-ranking official with the state security forces said an explosives-rigged car blew up outside the Aden criminal investigations unit, killing six officers along with the driver.
Gunmen then stormed the building, taking an unknown number of police detectives hostage inside.
Two policewomen were also killed by the attackers.
Earlier on Sunday, Yemeni security sources had said that they suspected Al-Qaeda militants were behind the attacks.
