News reaching us from SANAA, Yemen says Three explosions struck Yemen's port city of Aden this morning killing dozens, including a blast at a hotel that is home to Cabinet members of the country's exiled government, security officials said. The explosions caused casualties, the officials said but could not provide any precise figures.
The blasts in Aden also targeted troops from the United Arab Emirates, which is part of a Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Shiite rebels.
Details were sketchy and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks
.
"There is an ongoing investigation by the Arab coalition over the injuries that happened because of the strikes," the United Arab Emirates state-run WAM news agency reported, without elaborating.
The security officials, who work for Yemen's internationally recognized government, said one explosion rocked the Palace Hotel, where the prime minister and officials reside, while the other two hit the residence and headquarters of troops from the United Arab Emirates.
Witnesses said the hotel was on fire and that there are ambulances at the scene. All officials and witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
Yemen has been embroiled in fighting that pits the Shiite rebels known as Houthis and forces loyal to a former president against the Saudi-backed and internationally recognized government as well as southern separatists, local militias and Sunni extremists. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the rebels and their allies since March.
The assault Tuesday comes after a Sept. 4 missile attack on an ammunition depot at the Emirati forward operating base at Saffer in Marib province killed 52 Emirati troops, as well as at least 10 soldiers from Saudi Arabia and five from Bahrain. It was the heaviest military loss for the Emirates since its founding in 1971.
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