A street in Aden, Yemen. Photo: Reuters.

i24News – An explosion at an arms depot in southern Yemen on Tuesday left five people dead and 30 injured, according to medical officials.

The cause of the early morning blast at the warehouse in the Abyan province, at a popular market in the town of Lawdar, was not immediately known, AP News reported.

Lawdar is controlled by forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is in the midst of an almost decade-long conflict with the Houthi rebels.

Many of those injured were in critical condition, the officials said, adding that they fear the death toll could rise further. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, according to AP News.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

The warehouse was used to store weapons as well as explosives, both of which were commonly sold at the market in Lawdar.

Yemen is engulfed in a civil war that broke out in 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa and forced the government into exile. The next year, a Saudi-led coalition entered the war to fight the rebels and restore the government.

Over the years of fighting, the Arab world’s poorest country is now flooded with small arms that are smuggled into the poorly controlled parts. In May, at least five civilians were killed and 20 were wounded when a man dropped a hand grenade in a crowded market in the southern port city of Aden.