Aden
Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck targets in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday in retaliation for attacks in the southern port city of Aden the previous day that took place as officials in a government backed by Riyadh arrived there.
The coalition accused the Houthi movement, which it has been fighting for six years, of staging the attack on Aden’s airport and a second one on the presidential palace.Thursday’s coalition airstrikes hit Sanaa airport and several other sites in and around the city, residents said. Loud blasts were heard and warplanes flew overhead for several hours, they said.
Houthi-run Masirah television said the planes hit at least 15 locations in different districts in the capital. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Coalition airstrikes have killed thousands, including many civilians, over the course of the war. But they have been less frequent in recent years as the conflict has reached a stalemate, with the Iran-aligned Houthis controlling most population centres and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s internationally recognised government supported by Riyadh and Western powers basing itself in Aden.
The main war has been eclipsed by a power-struggle between Hadi’s government and southern separatists in Aden. Saudi Arabia has been trying to unite them to focus on fighting the Houthis.
“The desperate, terrorist attack to target Maasheq palace confirms the responsibility of the terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia of the attack in Aden International Airport,” the statement said.
Medecins Sans Frontieres aid group said 19 people were treated for wounds at its hospital in Aden.“The missile hit the terminal’s gate and we were only meters away…We pulled out people screaming, then I realised that I was wounded myself,” Nasser Mubarak, one of the survivors said.
Aden has been mired in violence because of the rift between the separatists and Hadi’s government, which has been based there after being driven from Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014.
The Southern Transitional Council , which seeks independence for south Yemen, declared self-rule in Aden in April, triggering clashes with Hadi’s forces and complicating United Nations efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the overall conflict.
The new cabinet unites the STC with Hadi in an effort to fulfil the Saudi aim of ending the feud. Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik said all members of the cabinet were “fine” and will remain in Aden despite the attack.
