Missile Hits Fledgling Yemen Gov’t Headquarters in Aden

None of the Cabinet members were hurt in the attack.

The hotel has been guarded by troops from the UAE, one of the key members of the Arab coalition that has been fighting since March to end Houthi control of Yemen and restore Hadi to power in the capital, Sanaa.

Bahah wrote on Facebook that two rockets had hit the hotel while other rockets struck elsewhere.

An army officer of the pro-government forces said that the rockets were fired by gunmen of the Shiite Houthi group from outside Aden city, particularly from an area located between neighboring provinces of Lahj and Taiz.

“No one from among the government was wounded, but we don’t have any information on other casualties”.

Houthi officials and their allied media had no immediate comment on the Aden attack.

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.

Officials who regularly stay at the Place Hotel include Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, who returned from Saudi Arabia to Aden in September.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the high death toll at the wedding event and warned that any intentional attack on civilians violates global law and must be investigated.

At least a dozen people were killed in the attack early Tuesday, including soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, officials said, adding Bahah was not hurt.

Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fled Aden for Saudi Arabia in March as Houthis and their allies advanced on the city. All officials and witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity.

Yemen has been involved in fighting that pits the rebel Houthis and Saleh loyalists against the Saudi-backed and internationally recognized government as well as southern separatists, Sunni extremists, and local militias. It enabled Yemen’s Saudi-backed President Abdurabuh Mansur Hadi, driven into exile by the rebels early this year, to return to his country for the first time in months.

Anwar Gargash, UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, blamed the attack on the Houthi rebels. Many young al Qaeda fighters have defected to Islamic State affiliates, lured by money and prestige. “The attack today on the Qasr reinforces our need to destroy the forces of rebellion and destruction. And it is close”.

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