Yemen officials: Grenade kills 5 shoppers at fish market

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — At least five civilians were killed Thursday in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden when a man dropped a hand grenade in a crowded fish market, security officials said.

The explosion also wounded at least 20 shoppers at the market in Aden’s district of Sheikh Othman, said the officials. The man’s motives for the attack were unknown and an investigation was underway, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations.

However, Shaher Mohamed Abdu, an eyewitness at the market, said the man dropped the bomb following an argument with some fish vendors. Videos of people carrying the wounded on motorcycles and others running in disarray were shared on social media.

Yemen is awash with small arms that have been smuggled into poorly controlled ports over years of the conflict. The country’s civil war erupted in 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen.

Aden is controlled by forces loyal to the internationally recognized government. A Saudi-led coalition, which entered the war in 2015, has been trying to restore the government to power.