15 killed as blasts hit Yemen govt HQ

Yemeni PM Khaled al-Bahah has escaped unharmed from an attack on the hotel where he and his cabinet were staying in the city of Aden.

Yemeni ministers have been evacuated from their temporary headquarters in the southern city of Aden after a series of explosions that reportedly killed 15 Arab soldiers and Yemeni militiamen.

Prime Minister Khaled al-Bahah wrote on his official Facebook page that two rockets fell in the grounds of the city's Qasr Hotel, where members of the government have been staying.

The official news agency of the United Arab Emirates said that 15 people - soldiers of the Arab alliance backing exiled President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi and Yemeni loyalist militiamen - were killed in Tuesday's blasts.

It blamed the attack, which Yemeni officials said also hit two buildings used by UAE commanders in the city, on the Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

There were conflicting reports on the nature of the attacks.

A Yemeni government official told DPA they were car bombs. Local newspaper Aden al-Ghad quoted eyewitnesses as saying that one of the attacks was a car bomb, but also quoted security officials as saying that the buildings were hit by rockets.

Local fighters backed by Emirati troops drove the mainly Shi'ite Houthis from Aden in July, and al-Bahah and members of his government returned to the city last month.

The city remains plagued by insecurity and there have been reports of activities by al-Qaeda and the Yemeni branch of Islamic State.


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Source: AAP



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