Five killed in Yemen terror attack after explosion near government plane

At least five people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on Aden airport, shortly after a plane carrying a newly formed government for Yemen arrived from Saudi Arabia.

Loud blasts and gunfire were captured on camera at the airport shortly after the plane arrived, witnesses said.

Spectators, media and security personnel are sent running for cover as the initial blast, a short distance from the plane, is felt. 

The cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber, were transferred safely to the city’s presidential Mashiq Palace.

At least five people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on Aden airport, shortly after a plane carrying Yemen’s newly formed government arrived from Saudi Arabia

The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport’s hall

There were no reports of casualties among the government delegation. 

Yemeni Communication Minister Naguib al-Awg, who was also on the government plane, said he heard two explosions, suggesting they were drone attacks. 

‘It would have been a disaster if the plane was bombed,’ he said, insisting the plane was the target of the attack as it was supposed to land earlier.

Mohammed al-Roubid, deputy head of Aden’s health office, said that at least four people were killed in the explosion. He said dozens were wounded but did not elaborate.

The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport’s hall.

Images shared on social media from the scene showed rubble and broken glass strewn about near the airport building and at least two lifeless bodies, one of them charred, lying on the ground.

In another image, a man was trying to help another man whose clothes were torn to get up from the ground. 

Former Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr condemned the attack, saying: ‘Malicious acts of aggression… targeting the government at Aden airport will not discourage it from completing the mission, and what happened is a heinous crime that should not go unpunished.’

The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport’s hall

The newly formed cabinet, the result of a cabinet reshuffle, unites the government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with southern separatists.

The two groups are the main Yemeni factions in a southern-based, Saudi-backed alliance, fighting against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north.

Saudi state television Ekhbaria showed destroyed vehicles and smashed glass. Plumes of white smoke rose from the scene.

The southern port city of Aden has been mired in violence because of a rift between the separatists and Hadi’s government.

The cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber, were transferred safely to the city’s presidential palace

The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which seeks independence for south Yemen, declared self rule in Aden earlier this year, triggering violent clashes and complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the overall conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition announced earlier this month the new power-sharing cabinet that would include the separatists.

The cabinet landed from Riyadh where both parties negotiated for more than a year with Saudi mediation.

Last year, the Houthis fired a missile at a military parade of newly graduated fighters of a militia loyal to the UAE at a military base in Aden, killing dozens.