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Although all government ministers were reported unharmed, more than 50 people were injured, medical and government sources in the southern city told AFP, and the death toll is feared to rise.
Smoke billows at Aden airport on December 30, 2020, after explosions rocked the Yemeni airport shortly after the arrival of a plane carrying members of a new unity government. Image: AFP
ADEN – At least 26 people were killed on Wednesday when explosions rocked Yemen’s Aden airport moments after a new unity government arrived, in what some officials accused of a “cowardly” attack by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
Although all government ministers were reported unharmed, more than 50 people were injured, medical and government sources in the southern city told AFP, and the death toll is feared to rise.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was preparing a “medical response plan for mass victims.”
As smoke billowed from the airport terminal due to an initial explosion, with debris scattered around the area and people rushing to tend to the injured, a second explosion occurred.
Video images filmed by AFP appear to show missile-like ammunition striking the airport apron, which had been packed with crowds moments before, and exploding in a ball of intense flames.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions.
Sporadic shots were heard shortly after.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government and southern separatists formed a power-sharing cabinet on December 18, forging a joint front against the Houthi rebels who have taken over the capital, Sanaa, and much of the north.
Both Yemeni Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani and Prime Minister Moeen Abdulmalik Saeed said all members of the government were safe.
“We assure our great people that members of the government are fine, and we assure them that the cowardly terrorist attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia will not deter us from doing our patriotic duty,” Eryani said on Twitter.
‘UNACCEPTABLE ACT OF VIOLENCE’
Saeed tweeted that “the terror attack … was part of the war waged against Yemen and its people,” but stopped short of accusing the Houthi insurgents.
Yemen’s government spokesman Rajih Badi called for an international investigation into the “terrorist” attack, he said, targeting “all members of the cabinet.”
“It is too early to charge either side before an investigation reveals who carried out the attack, including (accusing) the Houthis,” he told AFP, adding that civilians, security guards and local officials.
Meanwhile, UN envoy Martin Griffiths condemned the attack on Twitter, calling it an “unacceptable act of violence.”
“I wish the cabinet strength to face the difficult tasks that lie ahead,” he said. “This unacceptable act of violence is a tragic reminder of the importance of urgently returning Yemen to the path of peace.”
Michael Aron, the British ambassador to Yemen, also condemned the blasts.
“A despicable attempt to cause carnage and chaos and bring suffering when Yemenis had chosen to move forward together,” he said.
Cabinet members arrived in Aden days after being sworn in by Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia, who leads a military coalition against insurgents.
Hadi fled to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, after Sanaa fell to the Houthis in 2014.
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died and millions have been displaced in Yemen’s grueling five-year war, which has triggered what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
The new government includes ministers loyal to Hadi and supporters of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as other parties.
While all oppose the Houthi rebels, deep divisions have grown among the forces, and the Riyadh-sponsored push to form the unity government was designed to repair the divisions.
Saudi Arabia has been urging the unity government to quell the “war within a civil war” and strengthen the coalition against the Houthis, who are poised to seize the key city of Marib, the last government stronghold in the north.
In recent months, the rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, including its critical oil infrastructure, in retaliation for the Riyadh-led military campaign.
Yemen is also home to a significant jihadist presence, including Al-Qaeda and militants loyal to the Islamic State group, despite two decades of US air and drone strikes.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which the United States considers the most dangerous branch of the terrorist group, has thrived in the chaos of Yemen’s civil war between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels.
It has carried out operations against both the Houthis and government forces.
The formation of the unity government comes a month before the inauguration of the president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, who criticized Saudi Arabia during his campaign amid the humanitarian disaster in Yemen since Riyadh’s intervention in the conflict in 2015.
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