Explosions have hit an airport in Yemen’s southern city of Aden after a plane carrying a self-proclaimed government backed by Saudi Arabia landed from Riyadh.
At least 26 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the attack on Wednesday, medical and security sources said.
Hours after the attack, a second explosion was heard around Aden’s Maasheq presidential palace where the self-proclaimed cabinet members including self-proclaimed Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, had been taken to safely, residents and local media said.
A local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport’s hall. Sporadic gunfire was also heard.
Yemen’s self-proclaimed information minister Moammar Al-Eryani said on Twitter that all the members of the Saudi-backed cabinet were “fine”.
The self-proclaimed cabinet was formed in Saudi Arabia on December 18. It includes ministers loyal to the government of former Saudi-backed Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and UAE-backed southern separatists.
The Riyadh-sponsored push to form the government aimed to mend the rift between Saudi-sponsored and UAE-backed militants
