They said several other people were wounded in the blast, which witnesses said was caused by a car laden with explosives, apparently driven by a suicide bomber, towards the kitchen in al-Derain area in northern Aden.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and officials could not be reached for comment.

It was the second attack of its kind targeting security forces in the city, where UAE forces from the Saudi-led coalition that has been operating in Yemen since 2015 hold sway.

Islamic State last month claimed responsibility for an attack targeting the headquarters of a counter-terrorism unit in Aden that killed at least 14 people, including the attackers.

Witnesses said rescuers were trying to pull out four charred bodies clearly visible in the destroyed kitchen. The force of the blast damaged stores and cars nearby.

The Saudi-led coalition joined the Yemen conflict in March 2015 after the armed Iran-aligned Houthi group pushed towards Aden, forcing the internationally-recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Last month, UAE-backed southern Yemeni forces wrested control of Aden from forces loyal to Hadi in several days of fighting that ended with a truce brokered by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.