Powerful blast outside presidential residence in Aden, Yemen

A powerful explosion has been reported outside the residence of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Rabbu Hadi in the southern city of Aden.

The blast in Aden “targeted a security checkpoint that leads to the entrance of the presidential palace," the official told Reuters by telephone.

Al Arabiya cited reports of six people killed and six others wounded, though those numbers have yet to be confirmed.

Meanwhile, media activist @abdanooralbatr3 said on Twitter that four people were killed, and six soldiers guarding the palace were injured.

Locals have reported that the death toll could be as high as 32 people.

The explosion, which was reportedly a car bomb, took place 1,500 meters from Hadi's presidential wing, according to Al Arabiya.

Sources told the news channel that the blast was targeting Aden's mayor after he entered the presidential residence.

A report on Twitter from a Yemen-based journalist said the explosion occurred on a road leading to the presidential palace. She added that President Hadi is not currently at the residence, though Vice President Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah is in town. 

It comes just hours after the Saudi-led coalition was reported to have launched an airstrike on the palace and in the country's capital, Sanaa. The strike lasted for more than two hours, destroying military targets and damaging civilian homes, according to NTV7.

Supported by the US, the Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the Houthi rebels – who control Sanaa – since March 2015.

The coalition sides with exiled President Hadi while the Houthis are aligned with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who resigned in 2012 following a popular uprising against his rule.