[ad_1]
At least 13 people were killed and dozens more injured in an attack at Aden airport on Wednesday, moments after a plane carrying a newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet landed for government-controlled parts of Yemen.
Loud explosions and gunfire were heard at the airport shortly after the plane arrived from Riyadh, witnesses said. Two security sources gave the number of victims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Cabinet members, including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Said al-Jaber, were safely transferred to the presidential palace in the city, Saudi witnesses and media said.
“We and the members of the government are in the temporary capital of Aden and everyone is fine,” Maeen tweeted from Maasheq palace. “The cowardly terrorist act that targeted Aden airport is part of the war that is being waged against the Yemeni state and its great people.”
Jaber tweeted: “Peace, security and stability will prevail thanks to the strong will of the Yemenis and their courageous government.”
A local security source said three mortar shells had landed in the airport lobby.
The newly formed cabinet unites the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with the southern separatists, with the intention of fulfilling the Saudi goal of ending a dispute between Riyadh’s allies.
The two groups are the main Yemeni factions in a southern-based alliance backed by Saudi Arabia fighting against the Iranian-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north, including the capital Sanaa.
Live television footage from the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel showed dozens of people leaving the plane when a first explosion hit the airport lobby. Heavy gunfire from armored vehicles followed with plumes of black and white smoke rising from the scene.
Another video showed damage to the terminal’s concrete walls and broken glass.s.
The southern port city of Aden has been embroiled in violence due to a rift between separatists and the Hadi government, based there after being driven out of the capital by the Houthis in 2014.
The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks South Yemen’s independence, declared self-government in Aden earlier this year, sparking clashes and complicating UN efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the conflict. general.
The Saudi-led coalition announced the new power-sharing cabinet this month after more than a year of intense Saudi mediation between the government and separatists.
The UN envoy in Yemen, Martin Griffiths, condemned the attack in a statement: “I wish the cabinet strength to face the difficult tasks that lie ahead. This unacceptable act of violence is a tragic reminder of the importance of urgently returning Yemen to the path of peace. “
– Reuters
[ad_2]
