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Yemen Explosions Hit an Aden Hotel and a Building Used by Emirati Soldiers Car Bombs in Yemen Hit Aden Hotel and Building Used by Persian Gulf Troops
(about 6 hours later)
AL MUKALLA, Yemen — A hotel housing members of Yemen’s government in the southern city of Aden was the site of at least two explosions early on Tuesday, although senior officials in the government were not injured, according to two military officials. AL MUKALLA, Yemen — The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for a series of car bombings in the southern Yemeni city of Aden early Tuesday that killed at least 18 people, including troops from the Persian Gulf who had been sent to secure the city.
Another explosion hit a building in Aden used by soldiers from the United Arab Emirates, and the country’s official news agency said that four Emirati soldiers had been killed. The coordinated bombings appear to be the largest attack in Aden by the Islamic State since the group first surfaced in Yemen last year, and are the latest sign that Sunni extremists are gaining strength with much of the country distracted by a multisided war.
There were conflicting reports about the source of the explosions at the hotel, Al Qasr, but one of the military officials, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sayf, said they had been caused by car bombs: The first detonated at the gate of the hotel, and the second exploded in the garden. The bombings struck a hotel housing members of Yemen’s government, as well as a building that served as a headquarters for soldiers who belong to an Arab coalition that has been fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to security officials in Aden and a statement released by the Islamic State.
The attacks demonstrated the security challenges for the government as it seeks to re-establish itself in Yemen after months of exile in Saudi Arabia. No government officials were injured in the attack on the hotel. The official Emirati News Agency said four soldiers had been killed in Aden on Tuesday, without giving more details. A security official in Aden said at least 18 people had been killed in the attack on the soldiers’ headquarters. The official, who requested anonymity to speak about continuing security investigations, said it was not clear whether the victims were foreign soldiers or Yemenis allied with the Arab coalition.
The government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced from power this year by the Houthi rebels who control Sana, the capital. In less than a year, the Islamic State has developed a reputation as Yemen’s most fearsome militant group, carrying out attacks that have killed dozens of people at a time — including some, on mosques, that are considered too extreme even by the local branch of Al Qaeda. Just as Al Qaeda has seized on the war to take control of territory, the Islamic State appears to be exploiting security lapses to carry out its own attacks while the Houthis and coalition forces are focused on fighting each other.
An Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that has been fighting the Houthis for more than six months recaptured Aden from the Houthis in July. The bombings also demonstrated the security challenges for the government as it seeks to re-establish itself in Yemen after months of exile in Saudi Arabia. The government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced from power this year by the Houthis, who control Sana, the capital.
The coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates, has tried to consolidate its control over Aden and surrounding provinces and to rebuild the city after months of brutal fighting that destroyed neighborhoods and critical infrastructure. An Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia recaptured Aden from the Houthis in July.
The city is still facing persistent threats from an array of armed groups vying for influence, including hard-line Sunni Islamists, as well as from the Houthis and their allies. The coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates and eight other Arab states, has tried to consolidate its control over Aden and surrounding provinces and to rebuild the city after months of brutal fighting that destroyed neighborhoods and critical infrastructure.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the two attacks. The most senior government official in Aden, Khaled Bahah, who serves as prime minister and vice president, was safely evacuated from the hotel after the bombing, officials said. But there are fears that the south will face growing instability as a group of fighters who rallied behind the Saudis shift their focus from the Houthis to their own goals. That group includes fighters advocating a separate state in the south, as well as hard-line Sunni Islamists.
After the bombings, Yemeni officials tried to play down the possibility that they were carried out by Sunni extremists, quickly blaming the Houthis for what they said were a series of rocket attacks.
But security officials in the city said the attack on the hotel involved two car bombs, including one that detonated at the gate, and another that exploded inside the hotel garden. The government’s most senior official, Khaled Bahah, who serves as both prime minister and vice president, was evacuated from the hotel after the bombing, officials said.
In the other attack, gunmen in armored vehicles stormed the Arab coalition’s headquarters, which a security official said was used mostly by Emirati soldiers. One of the armored vehicles, laden with explosives — the Islamic State said it was a Hummer — was detonated at the building, the security official said.