Blasts hit Yemen govt headquarters

The official Saudi Press Agency blamed the Houthis for the attack, claiming that the rebels fired Russian-designed Katyusha rockets.

It “examines 13 deadly airstrikes by the coalition in Saada… which killed a few 100 civilians, including 59 children”, said Amnesty of the report, which also documents the use of “internationally banned cluster bombs”.

In a coordinated attack, another Islamic State bomber drove an armored vehicle into a local coalition headquarters, the statement said.

Government officials said Bahah was not hurt in Tuesday morning’s attack, but the official Emirati news agency reported the death of 15 soldiers from the Arab coalition and its Yemeni allies.

The news agency said four Emirati soldiers were among the coalition forces that were killed and that several others were wounded.

The coalition said three Emiratis and one Saudi soldier died.

It has been linked to numerous attempted terror attacks in the West and has claimed responsibility for orchestrating the attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo , which left 12 people dead.

There were conflicting reports as to the cause of the blasts, which also hit two buildings used by United Arab Emirates forces backing Bahah’s government.

Hadi visited Aden two weeks ago under tight security, his first visit back to Yemen after almost six months of exile in Saudi Arabia.

The rebels known as Huthis seized much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, with the help of renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Al-Qasr Hotel has been the headquarters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government since his return to Yemen.

The attacks come just days after Bahah warned the rebels that there was no room for more “adventures”.

Head of the visiting delegation, for his part, expressed gratitude to Iran for its supports for the Arab country, stressing that armed resistance to the Saudi-led invasion will continue.

But by Tuesday afternoon, the new Islamic State affiliate in Aden claimed the attacks in a message circulated by militant sympathizers online.

Mr. Hadi said that Yemen had appealed to neighbouring countries for assistance in tackling the Houthi militias, and that the response was a “courageous one”, particularly from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which, he said, had “acted with utter determination”.

The attacks in Aden on Tuesday are likely to be the biggest loss of life for the coalition since a Houthi missile attack on a base in Marib in September killed 52 Emirati troops.

The Red Crescent has overseen the aid operation in Aden, which was extensively damaged after it was invaded by the Houthi rebels in March.