The death toll from an air and missile attack on Thursday by a Yemeni-backed Yemeni army camp in the southern Yemeni city of Aden has killed at least 40 and dozens of Yemeni security forces have been killed and wounded in simultaneous bombings in the Yemeni capital.
The al-Houthi group said it had attacked the Jalala camp in the area of Brega (west of Aden) with a march plane and a medium-range ballistic missile targeting the security forces.
More than 40 people were killed, including the commander of the first brigade of the UAE-backed security forces, Munir al-Yafi'i, who was also known as Abu al-Yamamah. Thirty others were wounded, according to Yemeni medical and security sources.
Al-Yafei is one of the most prominent people killed in the attack on Al-Jalaa refugee camp. His name was associated with raids, arrests and assassinations. He was known for confronting the legitimate government forces supported by the UAE.
Footage showed security bodies at the scene, Reuters quoted security sources as saying that an explosion took place behind the platform when Yafei came down to shake hands with officials.
The Houthis said the military parade - which was targeted in Aden - was preparing to attack the positions in the provinces of Dalea and Taiz, which control parts of them.
They added that the attack on the evacuation base comes in the context of responding to what they describe as aggression and siege.
The attack was not the first. In January, the Houthis attacked a military parade at al-Anad air base in Lahj province, south of Yemen, with improvised explosive-laden aircraft, killing a number of military personnel, including the head of Yemeni military intelligence, Major General Muhammad Saleh Tamah.
Almost simultaneously, several explosions targeting a police station in the suburb of Sheikh Osman in Aden, killing at least 11 policemen and injuring 29 others, according to a medical source, and the explosions occurred during the gathering of security on the site.
Four suicide bombers detonated a car and three motorbikes in a car bomb, a security official said.
The Yemeni Minister of Human Rights Mohammed Askar that the bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, stressing the high death toll of the attacks on the camp and the police station to sixty dead.
| Demonstration at al-Jalaa camp witnessed graduation of recruits (Reuters) |
Charges to Iran
Yemeni Prime Minister Moin Abdul Malik and Saudi ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed al-Jaber have accused Iran of being behind the attack on the military parade in Aden.
Al-Jaber said that the simultaneous targeting by the Houthi group for the security and stability of Aden is a strong indicator of unifying its objectives with the Islamic state and al Qaeda.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of responsibility for attacks by Houthis with ballistic missiles or aircraft on targets inside the kingdom.
In turn, the Yemeni government said in tweeting on Twitter that the coincidence of the attacks - which they described as criminals - confirms that their source and their goal is one, which is targeting the stability and security of the city of Aden.
The two attacks were aimed at blocking all opportunities for peace and stability in Yemen as a way to achieve what they described as terrorist plots that converge and move with the support of Iran.
For his part, said Yemeni Minister of Human Rights that there is a mix of papers in Aden through what he described as Huthi terrorism of targeting the military parade, and the terror of Al Qaeda targeting the police station Sheikh Osman.