Rocket attack in Aden against hotel housing Yemen PM: security source

The United Arab Emirates condemned the attack and suggested it was carried out by Houthi rebels and their main local ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

About three rockets hit the headquarters of Yemen’s prime minister and his cabinet in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday morning, causing massive explosions that rocked the whole city, local sources told Xinhua.

Columns of black smoke could be seen rising from the targeted hotel and heavy armored vehicles and UAE troopers were deployed around the area, according to Xinhua reporter near the scene.

The missile appeared to have been fired at the gate of the hotel, they said.

Initial reports had described the missiles as rocket-propelled grenades. President Hadi, who returned recently to his country after a almost six-month exile, urged Shiite rebels to lay down their arms and resume dialogue to end Yemen’s conflict, as he left for the UN General Assembly.

Another projectile landed close to the hotel and a third one struck Buraiqah district in Aden, residents reported. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was believed to be out of the country in Saudi Arabia.

The Qasr hotel has been the base of Hadi’s government since its gradual return from exile in Riyadh over recent weeks after the expulsion of Iranian-allied Houthi fighters in July.