A suicide bomber blew himself up in a camp belonging to Yemen’s Republican Guard troops in the southwest of the country days after Al-Qaeda claimed a similar attack that killed 26 soldiers, world media said referring to the Yemeni army.

The explosion hit at 6:00 am local time and was probably carried out by multiple assailants, a military official said. The explosion was followed by an exchange of fire between gunmen and security forces.

Witnesses said that the blast completely destroyed the three-storey building of the camp. Yemeni officials have not commented on the possible casualties, yet.

The son of Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh - who formally stepped down less than a week ago - is the head of Republican Guard units.