In Yemeni city, blast rocks hotel with government officials

The results of the fighting were, as is so often the case, a matter of dispute between the two factions, with the pro-Saudi side claiming mass surrenders of Houthis and small territorial gains, while the Houthis denied this and reported repelling the attack and killing dozens of “mercenaries”. Columns of smoke could be seen rising into the sky and the sounds of sirens from ambulances and other emergency services could be heard across the city.

Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and members of his cabinet were unharmed in the attack on Al Qasr Hotel in the southern port city, EFE news reported. He didn’t offer a few other insights about the assault.

Amnesty worldwide called Wednesday for a “suspension” in transfers of certain arms to members of a Saudi-led coalition battling Yemeni rebels following “damning evidence of war crimes”.

A second building in Al Boraiqa district, the home of Sheikh Fareed Al Awlaqi, which was being used as the headquarters of the Emirates Red Crescent and guarded by UAE soldiers, was also targeted.

“The government will remain in Aden”, he added, even after a few ministers “were lightly wounded and moved to a safe location” following the attack on the hotel.

Salem al-Yazidi, a fighter in a local militia allied with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who remains in sanctuary in Saudi Arabia, described chaotic scenes when he rushed to aid the victims of the blast at the plush al-Qasr hotel.

The coalition meanwhile issued a statement published on the Saudi SPA news agency saying the attacks killed three Emiratis and one Saudi soldier.

The Saudi-led coalition comprised of nine countries has carried out military operations, including airstrikes on a daily basis, against Houthis since late March in Yemen in an effort to restore Hadi’s authority.

The rebels “targeted the government headquarters and several military positions (and) left 15 Arab coalition and Yemeni resistance martyrs”, said WAM.

They accused Hadi’s administration of failing to confront the Sunni militants of al-Qaeda, whose presence in the nation has grown. We will continue in our endeavor until victory.

Hadi, who returned to Aden last month, is not believed to be staying at the hotel, the BBC said.

On Sept 4, a rebel missile attack in the eastern Yemeni province of Marib killed 67 coalition troops, including 52 Emirati soldiers.

“The coalition losses are still relatively small for this sort of war”, Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of Cornerstone Global Associates, which advises clients on risk in the Middle East, said by phone.

Saudi Arabia, which was totally opposed to such a probe, introduced its own watered-down proposal on Yemen, which instead supported a domestic probe.