Aden
The Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck targets in Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Thursday. The attacks were in retaliation of strikes 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 air strikes 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 air strikes 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 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.
At least 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Wednesday’s attack on Aden airport, which took place just as members of Hadi’s new cabinet arrived from Saudi Arabia. A second attack was made on the Maasheq palace, where they had been taken to safety.
A coalition statement said the alliance had downed an explosive-laden Houthi drone that was targeting the palace.
“The desperate, terrorist attack to target Maasheq palace confirms the responsibility of the terrorist, Houthi militia of the attack in Aden International Airport,” the statement said.
There was no immediate reaction from the Houthis, who had earlier denied responsibility for the airport attack.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) 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 metres away…We pulled out people screaming, then I realised that I was wounded myself,” Nasser Mubarak, one of the survivors said.
Mubarak lied on a bed in MSF’s hospital with others wounded mostly by shrapnel. The medical staff showed steel bolts that were removed from some of the victims.—. Agencies
