Just as Yemen was preparing to move forward with a power-sharing government, chaos erupts as three explosions at the Aden airport threaten to annihilate the new government officials as they disembark their plane. Saudi Arabia had brokered a peace deal, bringing together the Houthi rebels who control much of northern Yemen and the Yemeni government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The explosion threatens the United Nations (UN) effort to seek a nationwide cease-fire to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus. The Wednesday explosion did not injure any members of the new cabinet, but it killed 22 people and injured 36 others in the crowd. The death toll is expected to dramatically climb as more victims succumb to their injuries.

The Yemeni government had just forged an alliance with southern separatists. This latest attack threatens an already very tenuous situation in a country plagued by years of war and hunger. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the carnage. The civil war in 2015 became direr with the entry of a Saudi-led coalition of regional Sunni nations attempting to restore the Hadi government. The United Nations calls the conflict the “most severe humanitarian catastrophe in the world.” At least 300,000 have fled or lost their homes, while millions are suffering from hunger, cholera, and other diseases.

Sources:

• Explosions rock Aden airport, killing at least 22, as new Yemen government arrives
• Yemen Airport Is Attacked as New Government Arrives

Photo Credit:  Almwald Alezzey on Unsplash