A suicide bomber has killed at least 25 people and injured 54 others by his explosives to target police recruits at a security compound in the southern Yemen city of Mukalla, security officials say.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity on Sunday because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Some of the victims were policemen returning to work following last month's recapture of Mukalla by forces of the internationally recognised government.

Other victims included young men applying for jobs with the city's local police.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group has claimed the attack, the second but rare intervention by the group in an area known as a stronghold of rival al-Qaeda.