A large explosion struck the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Wednesday shortly after a plane carrying the newly formed cabinet landed there, security officials said.Terrorists declared war on Yemen’s fledgling democratic government on Wednesday with a deadly attack on Aden airport as members of the new administration flew in from Riyadh.
At least 27 people were killed and 40 injured in a series of explosions just outside the airport’s main hall while the aircraft’s passengers were disembarking.
A local security source said the building was hit by three mortar shells, and Yemen's information minister Muammar Al-Eryani accused Iran-backed Houthi militias of carrying out the attack.
The explosions were followed by heavy gunfire from armored vehicles as plumes of smoke and dust rose from the scene.
The attack took place as the airport hall was packed with local officials and well-wishers waiting to greet the new government. “Most of the dead and wounded are civilians,” a local health official told Arab News.
The cabinet members, including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, were taken to safety at the city’s Maasheq presidential palace, along with the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber.
Mohamed al-Roubid, deputy head of Aden’s health office, told The Associated Press that at least 16 people were killed in the explosion and 60 were wounded.
Later, the interior ministry raised the casualty toll to at least 22 dead and 50 wounded.
The source of the blast was not immediately clear and no group claimed responsibility for the explosion.
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani blamed the attack on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, adding that all the members of the government were safe.
The Houthis denied responsibility for the attack.Anwar Gargash,, the United Arab Emirates’ minister of state for foreign affairs, said the attacks on Aden airport were meant to destroy the power-sharing deal between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the southern separatists.
One staff member of the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed in the attack on Aden airport, ICRC Yemen said on Twitter.Two of its staff were unaccounted for and three were injured, it said.
Ibrahim Fraihat, associate professor of international conflict resolution at the Doha Institute, said the attack has seriously undermined the authority of the Yemeni government.
“This explosion sends a very strong message to the new unity government that was recently formed after almost one year of talks among all the parties,” Fraihat told Al Jazeera.
“But with the government’s arrive, and this happening, I think it sends the message that the challenges awaiting this government are very serious. No matter who stands behind the explosions, there’s been a huge security breach.”
Afzal Ashraf, a defence analyst and assistant professor of international relations at the University of Nottingham, told Al Jazeera the attack does not bode well for Yemen’s newly formed cabinet.
“This cabinet was supposed to unite two factions that were initially supported by Saudi Arabia and then of course one of them split away and was supported by the United Arab Emirates,” Ashraf said, referring to the Saudi-backed government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the separatist Southern Transitional Council, supported by the UAE.
“This continues to fragment and complicate an already complex and unnecessarily difficult situation which is causing enormous distress to innocent civilians.”
A loud blast was heard around Aden’s presidential palace, where the newly formed Yemeni cabinet was transferred after an attack at the city’s airport, two residents and local media said.
It was unclear what caused the explosion and there were no immediate reports of casualties.Michael Aron, Britain’s ambassador to Yemen, condemned the attack on Twitter, calling it a “despicable attempt to cause carnage and chaos” in the conflict-hit country.