Blasts hit Yemen’s Aden airport as new unity government arrives

Blasts and gunfire were heard after a plane carrying the new Yemeni government arrived from Saudi Arabia.

Loud blasts and gunfire were heard at Aden’s airport shortly after a plane carrying the newly-formed Yemeni government arrived from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, witnesses said.

The cabinet members, including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, were transferred safely to the city’s presidential palace, the witnesses and Saudi media said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The new government was formed under the auspices of Riyadh, which leads a military coalition against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014.

The formation of the new 24-member cabinet, which was sworn in on Saturday by Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, forges a joint front against the fighters who have seized much of the north.

Hadi has lived in the Saudi-capital Riyadh since Sanaa fell to the Houthis.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in Yemen’s grinding five-year war, which has triggered what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The new government includes ministers loyal to Hadi and supporters of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), as well as other parties.

While all oppose Houthi forces, deep divisions have grown between the forces, and the Riyadh-sponsored push to form the unity government was designed to mend rifts.