ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew up a car outside a presidential palace in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramout on Saturday, killing at least 20 Republican Guards and injuring dozens of others, a security official said.
"The suicide bomber detonated the car outside the presidential palace in al-Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramout," the security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"Initial investigation shows that al-Qaida militants are behind the attack," he added.
Hadramout province, about 794 km southeast of the capital Sanaa, has seen sporadic shoot-outs and motorbike attacks against intelligence officers for the past few months.
The suicide bombing attack happened just several hours after President-elect Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took the constitutional oath at the parliament, after a landmark vote this week initiated in a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.
Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to Sanaa early Saturday after he finished medical treatment in the United States and he is expected to attend Hadi's inauguration scheduled for Feb. 27.
The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the terrorist group's regional network in Yemen, had announced rejection to Yemen's presidential election before the polls were held, and called its supporters to boycott the election by violent acts.
On the eve of the presidential polls, the AQAP released a statement claiming responsibility for several assassination attacks in January.
During the presidential polls on Tuesday, Yemen's southern regions witnessed severe clashes between security forces and pro- separatism militants which left seven people killed and 77 others injured.
Yemen's southern and eastern regions have recently been rocked by a string of suicide car bombings targeting government buildings and military officials. The authorities usually accuse the AQAP militants of committing the crimes.
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