The moment a missile 'launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels' slams into Yemen airport killing 26 minutes after the new government landed in capital
Terrifying footage has captured the moment a missile exploded at a Yemeni airport shortly after a plane carrying a newly formed government for Yemen arrived from Saudi Arabia, in what officials are calling a 'cowardly' attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
At least 26 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the attack on Aden Airport earlier today as gunfire rang out following the blast.
Spectators, media and security personnel who had gathered to see the plane's arrival are seen running for cover as the initial blast that hit the airport's hall.
Cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber, were transferred safely to the city's presidential Mashiq Palace.
At least five people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on Aden airport, shortly after a plane carrying Yemen's newly formed government arrived from Saudi Arabia
The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport's hall
There were no reports of casualties among the government delegation.
Yemeni Communication Minister Naguib al-Awg, who was also on the government plane, said he heard two explosions, suggesting they were drone attacks.
'It would have been a disaster if the plane was bombed,' he said, insisting the plane was the target of the attack as it was supposed to land earlier.
Mohammed al-Roubid, deputy head of Aden's health office, said that at least four people were killed in the explosion. He said dozens were wounded but did not elaborate.
The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport's hall.
The bomb blasts sparked panic on the airfield, minutes after the newly formed government's plane touched down from Saudi Arabia
Images shared on social media from the scene showed rubble and broken glass strewn about near the airport building and at least two lifeless bodies, one of them charred, lying on the ground.
In another image, a man was trying to help another man whose clothes were torn to get up from the ground.
Former Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr condemned the attack, saying: 'Malicious acts of aggression... targeting the government at Aden airport will not discourage it from completing the mission, and what happened is a heinous crime that should not go unpunished.'
The source of the blast was not immediately clear, but a local security source said three mortar shells had landed on the airport's hall
The chaotic scene had minutes earlier been a gathering of hundreds to welcome members of the new unity government at Aden Airport following a reshuffle by the cabinet
The Saudi-led coalition announced earlier this month the new power-sharing cabinet that would include the separatists. Pictured: Military personnel wait to welcome members of the new government
The newly formed cabinet, the result of a cabinet reshuffle, unites the government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi with southern separatists.
The two groups are the main Yemeni factions in a southern-based, Saudi-backed alliance, fighting against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north.
Saudi state television Ekhbaria showed destroyed vehicles and smashed glass. Plumes of white smoke rose from the scene.
The southern port city of Aden has been mired in violence because of a rift between the separatists and Hadi's government.
The cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber, were transferred safely to the city's presidential palace
The separatist Southern Transitional Council , which seeks independence for south Yemen, declared self rule in Aden earlier this year, triggering violent clashes and complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in the overall conflict.
The Saudi-led coalition announced earlier this month the new power-sharing cabinet that would include the separatists.
The cabinet landed from Riyadh where both parties negotiated for more than a year with Saudi mediation.
Last year, the Houthis fired a missile at a military parade of newly graduated fighters of a militia loyal to the UAE at a military base in Aden, killing dozens.
Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen's grinding five-year war, which has triggered what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
While all factions of the government oppose Houthi rebels, deep divisions have grown between the forces, and the Riyadh-sponsored push to form the unity government was designed to mend rifts.
Saudi Arabia has been encouraging the unity government to quell the 'war within a civil war' and to bolster the coalition against the Houthis, who are poised to seize the key town of Marib, the last government stronghold in the north.
In recent months, the rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia - including its critical oil infrastructure - in retaliation for the Riyadh-led military campaign.
Yemen also still hosts a significant jihadist presence, including Al-Qaeda and militants loyal to the Islamic State group, despite two decades of air and drone strikes by the United States.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , which the US considers the terror group's most dangerous branch, has thrived in the chaos of Yemen's civil war between pro-government forces and the Huthi rebels.
It has carried out operations against both the Huthis and government forces.
The unity government formation comes a month before the inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, who was critical of Saudi Arabia during his campaign amid the humanitarian disaster in Yemen since Riyadh's intervention in the conflict in 2015.