ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed ten soldiers in the Yemeni southern port city of Mukalla on Thursday.

The militant group said in an online statement that one of its members had blown himself up in a car near government troops.

Medical sources said earlier that ten soldiers had been killed at a naval camp near the port of Khalaf in Mukalla when a car exploded. About 15 soldiers were wounded, they said.

Two other explosions hit the military headquarters in the city, according to security officials, who said the blasts set off fierce clashes.

The Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government troops last month routed al-Qaeda fighters from Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt.

U.S. warplanes and drones have carried several airstrikes targeting al-Qaeda training camps and vehicles in the same region over the past months.

Last week, U.S. officials said the Pentagon is providing military support, intelligence, ships and special operations forces to help in the ongoing operations against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen.

After its withdrawal from Mukalla, al-Qaeda said in a statement that it pulled out to spare the city of destruction.