Yemen War: 22 Dead as Explosions Rock Airport in Attack on New Government

Twenty-two people were killed in an attack at Aden airport as members of the country’s newly appointed unity government got off a plane from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

The first explosion, broadcast live on television, occurred as officials were leaving the plane, sending hundreds of people scrambling in panic. The explosion at the airport’s hall was followed by other blasts and gunfire.  

Security sources told AP that at least 22 people were killed and 50 were

injured in the attack, in which mortars reportedly hit the airport hall. Other outlets reported the toll was even higher.

The cabinet ministers were all taken safely to the city’s presidential palace, according to reports. Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik tweeted that he and other members of government were “fine.”

“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,” he wrote.

No claim of responsibility has been made for the attack. But Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani blamed Houthi rebels, the Iran-backed force that has been locked in war with the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. 

“Cowardly terrorist attack by Iran-backed Houthi militia on Aden airport will not deter us [from] our duty,” tweeted Al-Eryani. “Our life isn’t more valuable than other Yemenis.”

The Houthis denied responsibility for the attack, Al Jazeera reported.

The new cabinet, sworn in on the 18th of December, is the result of a Saudi-brokered deal to end a rift between Hadi’s government and the separatists of the Southern Transitional Council, supposedly allies in the war against the Houthis, who hold the capital Sanaa, along with much of northwest Yemen.

The cabinet members were returning from Saudi Arabia, where Hadi has been based since Sanaa fell to the Houthis in 2014. 

The port city of Aden has previously been the setting for bloody clashes between Hadi’s internationally recognised government and the southern separatists.

Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, has been ravaged by fighting since the conflict with the Houthis erupted in 2014, leaving more than 110,000 people dead and resulting in what the United Nations considers the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. According to recent UN data, more than 16 million Yemenis will be facing acute food shortages in early 2021 as a result of the twin catastrophes of the war and COVID-19.

The UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, condemned the attack in a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday.

 “I wish the cabinet strength in facing the difficult tasks ahead,” he wrote.

“This unacceptable act of violence is a tragic reminder of the importance of bringing Yemen urgently back on the path towards peace.”