Islamic State, which is centred in Iraq and Syria, first emerged in Yemen in March with a series of suicide attacks on Shi’ite Muslim mosques in which 137 people died.
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“The hotel where Prime Minister Khaled Bahah has been residing along with a number of ministers and elite troops of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was targeted by rocket attacks”, a local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
When Hadi visited Aden last month, he was guarded by coalition forces at the al-Qasr Hotel hit on Tuesday.
WAM said the dead also included local Yemeni fighters taking part in the coalition.
The attacks come just days after Bahah warned the rebels that there was no room for more “adventures”. Both countries have contributed troops in a battle against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, hoping to restore Hadi to power.
“An explosive auto tried to storm the camp, but the guards prevented it and it exploded outside”, said Salem Ali, 44, a Yemeni soldier who was guarding the facility.
On his official Facebook page, Bahah wrote that two rockets crashed inside the hotel and several others landed elsewhere.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said in a Twitter message the attack on the hotel was further proof that the Houthis and Saleh were determined to destroy Yemen.
Claiming responsibility for the Sanaa bombing, Islamic State said in a statement that dozens of Houthis preparing to go to the battlefront had been killed or wounded.
“In at least four of the airstrikes investigated … homes attacked were struck a few times, suggesting that they had been the intended targets despite no evidence they were being used for military purposes”, it said.
Basalma, explaining his belief that Houthis were responsible, cited his understanding that rockets caused the blasts.
But as the coalition focused exclusively on fighting the Houthis and their allies, terrorist networks in southern Yemen remained intact, Ms. Zimmerman said. “These were long-range rockets with high accuracy, and it’s the Houthi militias, with the technical support from Iran, who have this capability”.
A vicious, protracted conflict has plunged the impoverished Middle Eastern nation into chaos this year.
The top Iranian official slammed Saudi Arabia’s bombing of Yemen’s civilian areas and killing of people as “war crimes”, calling for worldwide reaction to the attacks.
Hadi returned to Saudi Arabia on Monday where he met with King Salman, a key supporter of his government.
The plush al-Qasr hotel is serving as informal headquarters of Yemen’s government and of Emirati troops based in Aden.
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Saudi, Emirati and Hadi officials did not immediately comment on the Isis claims and neither did the Houthi forces.
