At least 8 people were killed and 8 others injured in a car bombing near the presidential palace in Yemen's temporary capital the southern port city of Aden, local security officials said on Thursday.

President Hadi, who is poised to start a foreign trip, was inside the palace at the time of the explosion, the officials said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the blast which residents said was very huge. The blast came a few days after the return of the government to Aden from a months-long exile in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  

Aden has been facing huge security challenges including a rise in assassinations and presence of militant groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Tens of security and military chiefs, politicians and activists have been targeted in the city where thousands of Yemeni troops and troops from the Saudi-led coalition have been deployed.

ISIS has claimed most of the deadly blasts including the one killing former Aden governor in December.

Separately, the battles between the pro-government and Houthi forces continued in the province of Taiz, a local source said today.

Houthis fired rockets on populated areas injuring several civilians today, the source said, coinciding with reports by news websites that a journalist was injured in an attack on a hospital.

Moreover, the Saudi-led coalition conducted fresh airstrikes in the capital Sanaa and other provinces within a more recently escalation of its bombing campaign.

The coalition launched the bombing campaign in late March in order to restore the legitimacy of the UN-backed government which had been ousted by the Houthi militants.

Lately, it has deployed thousands of troops to help the government restore stability and secure regions retaken from the Houthis including Aden.