CAIRO (AP) – The Prime Minister of Yemen said on Saturday that a missile strike at Aden airport was intended to ‘disable’ the country’s new government upon arrival in the main southern city – a daring attack he blamed for Iranian-backed rebels. .
Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed spoke to The Associated Press in an interview in his office at Mashiq Palace in Aden. It was the leader’s first interview with international media after surviving Wednesday’s attack that killed at least 25 people and injured 110 others.
“It is a major terrorist attack that was intended to eliminate the government,” said the prime minister. “It was a message against peace and stability in Yemen.”
Saeed echoed his government’s allegations that the Yemeni Houthi rebels were responsible for the missile strike at the airport and a drone attack on the palace shortly after the prime minister and his cabinet were transferred there.
The new Yemeni government was formed in December to end a dangerous political divide with southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates. The internal divide threatened the UAE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, which is fighting the Houthis in Yemen.
Saeed said the “techniques” used in the missile attack on the airport were hallmarks of the Houthi’s strategy.
Houthi officials have denied being behind the attack but tried to blame unspecified groups in the Saudi-led coalition. The rebel leaders have not provided any evidence or responded to requests for comment.
The Houthis have carried out similar attacks in the past. In 2015, former Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and members of his cabinet survived a missile attack attributed to the Houthis, which hit an Aden hotel used by the government. Last year, the Houthis fired a missile at a military parade by a militia loyal to the UAE at a base in Aden, killing dozens of people.
The attack occurred shortly after a plane with Saeed and his cabinet members landed at the airport. AP footage of the scene at Aden airport showed members of the government delegation disembarking as the explosion shook the asphalt, with many ministers running back into the plane or down the stairs to seek shelter.
Saeed said three accurately guided missiles had hit the facility, targeting his plane, the arrivals hall and the airport’s VIP lounge.
“The guidance accuracy was great. The operation was enormous, ”he said.
The prime minister said Yemeni researchers have collected the remains of the missiles and that experts from the Saudi-led coalition and the US would help determine the type and origin of the missiles.
Saeed and his newly formed cabinet returned to Yemen a week after being sworn in before Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, where the disputed leader lives.
The cabinet reshuffles was part of a power-sharing agreement between Saudi-backed Hadi and the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, an umbrella group of militias trying to re-establish an independent South Yemen that existed from 1967 until unification in 1990.
Saeed, the prime minister, said his government would prioritize “security and stability” in government-run areas after months of infighting between Hadi’s government and the STC.
“Whatever the challenges in Aden, the government remains,” he said.
He also pointed to “huge” economic challenges that have been the focus of his administration.
The conflict in the poorest nation of the Arab world began when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, forcing Hadi’s government to flee.
The following year, the Saudi-led coalition intervened against the Iranian-backed rebels in what has ended in stalemate. Since then more than 112,000 people – fighters and civilians – have been killed.
Aden airport is expected to reopen on Sunday, Transport Minister Abdel-Salam Hamied announced during a visit to the facility.