CAIRO (AP) – Yemen’s prime minister said on Saturday that a missile attack at Aden airport was intended to “eliminate” the country’s new government as soon as it arrived in the key southern city – a bold attack he attributed to Iran-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 international media interview after he survived Wednesday’s attack, which killed at least 25 people and wounded 110 others.
“It is a major terrorist attack aimed at eliminating the government,” said the prime minister. “It was a message against peace and stability in Yemen.”
Saeed repeated his government’s accusations that Yemen’s Houthi rebels were responsible for the airport’s missile attack and drone attack on the palace, shortly after the prime minister and his office were moved there.
The new Yemeni government was formed in December to end a dangerous political split with southern separatists who are supported by the United Arab Emirates. The internal disruption has threatened the UAE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia, which is fighting Houthis in Yemen.
Saeed said the “techniques” used in the missile attack on the airport were hallmarks of the Houthis’ strategy.
Houthi officials denied being behind the attack, but sought to blame unspecified groups in the Saudi-led coalition. The rebel leaders offered no 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, that hit a government-run Aden hotel. Last year, the Houthis fired a missile at the military parade of a militia loyal to the UAE at a base in Aden, killing dozens.
The attack it happened moments after a plane carrying Saeed and his Cabinet members landed at the airport. AP images of the Aden airport scene showed members of the government delegation disembarking when the explosion rocked the runway, with many ministers running back onto the plane or descending the stairs in search of shelter.
Saeed said that three precision-guided missiles hit the premises, targeting his plane, the arrivals hall and the airport’s VIP lounge.
“The orientation accuracy was great. The operation was huge, ”he said.
The prime minister said Yemeni investigators had collected the remains of the missiles and that experts from the Saudi and US-led coalition would help determine the type and origin of the missiles.
Saeed and his newly formed cabinet were returning to Yemen a week after they took an oath before Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, where the war leader resides.
The remodeling of the cabinet it was part of a power-sharing agreement between Hadi, supported by the Saudis, and the breakaway Southern Transitional Council, an umbrella group of militias that sought to restore an independent southern Yemen, which existed from 1967 until unification in 1990 .
Saeed, the prime minister, said his government would prioritize “security and stability” in government-controlled areas after months of internal strife between Hadi’s government and the STC.
“Whatever the challenges in Aden, the government remains,” he said.
He also pointed to “huge” economic challenges as the focus of his government.
The conflict in the poorest nation in the Arab world began when the Houthis captured the capital of Sanaa in 2014, forcing the Hadi government to flee.
The following year, the Saudi-led coalition intervened against Iran-backed rebels in what turned into a paralyzed war. Since then, more than 112,000 people – combatants and civilians – have been killed.
Aden airport is due to reopen on Sunday, Transport Minister Abdel-Salam Hamied announced during a visit to the facility.