Aden receives first flight after ‘blockade’

ADEN: Yemen’s national airline said on Tuesday a commercial flight had landed at Aden international airport after acquiring security permits.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi militia said last week it had closed all air, land and sea ports in Yemen to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The move came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward Riyadh, which it blamed on Tehran.

A Yemenia airlines official said a flight took off from Cairo and landed in Aden on Tuesday before returning to the Egyptian capital. He said the flights would increase gradually over the coming days.

In another development, Daesh claimed responsibility for a car bombing that security sources said killed 10 people, including civilians, at a security post in the government bastion of Aden on Tuesday.

The terrorist group claimed the attack in the southern port city via the encrypted messaging app Telegram, adding that a Yemeni suicide bomber had detonated the vehicle.

Aden’s security chief told AFP: “Eight members of the security forces and two civilians were killed in a car bombing in the central district of Abdul Aziz.”

“There are a large number of wounded, some of them in serious condition,” Brig. Shalal Shaya said, attributing the blast to a car bomb.