Fatal explosions at Yemen airport
BLASTS rocked the airport in the Yemeni city of Aden yesterday, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens soon after members of a newly created unity government arrived.
Other local news reports suggested that as many as a dozen people were killed in the attack, igniting more turmoil in the Middle East nation already reeling from war and hunger.
The assault, for which no group immediately claimed responsibility, was launched after the Yemeni government forged a political alliance with southern separatists, ending months of feuding that threatened to plunge the country into more conflict and chaos.
Videos posted on social media showed that the blast occurred just as members of the new government were disembarking from their plane, belonging to national carrier Yemenia, which flew in from Saudi Arabia.
Plumes of smoke billowed as people ran for cover and gunfire erupted. In one video, a destroyed van, surrounded by blood stains, shards of glass and debris, sat by the arrival hall, the building’s facade torn apart by the explosions.
There was speculation that mortars or rockets were used in the attack.
Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar al-Eryani blamed the explo
sions on Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthi rebels. “We assure our people that all cabinet members are safe, and cowardly terrorist attack by Iran-backed Houthi militia on Aden airport will not deter us from our duty,” he tweeted.
The plane’s passengers included Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other cabinet members, as well as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Said al-Jaber, according to Saudi state media.
The new power-sharing government, brokered by Saudi Arabia earlier this month, brought together the two main groups fighting Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels who control much of northern Yemen.
The Yemeni government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi had a contentious relationship with the influential separatists of the Southern Transitional Council, which wants
independence for southern Yemen.
In April, the separatists declared self-rule in Aden, a strategic port city, which sparked violence and concerns that Yemen’s conflict could escalate just as the UN was seeking a nationwide ceasefire to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
In 2015, Yemen’s civil war deepened with the entry of a Saudi-led coalition of regional Sunni nations, backed by the US. They sought to restore the Hadi government and prevent Iran from extending influence in the region through the Shia Houthis.
A humanitarian crisis also worsened, becoming what the UN now calls the most severe humanitarian catastrophe in the world. Millions are on the edge of famine and suffering from cholera and other diseases. More than 300 000 have fled their homes.