More Then A Dozen UAE Soldiers Were Reportedly Killed In Aden Explosion

Footage of bomb attack

#Yemen | Rocket attack in #Aden against hotel housing Yemen PM pic.twitter.com/gh32mpn65w

— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) October 6, 2015

Yemen VP Bahah unhurt but has been evacuated from Aden by UAE helicopter

Yemen VP Bahah unhurt but has been evacuated from Aden by UAE helicopter

At least 15 soldiers from a Saudi-led Arab coalition and its Yemeni allies have been killed in several attacks in Aden on Tuesday, the official WAM news agency of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported on its Twitter feed.

The explosions hit a hotel housing Yemeni officials and a Gulf military base in Aden, a government spokesman and residents said, in the biggest attack on the government since it retook the city from its Houthi foes in July.

Earlier in the day, a hotel where Yemen’s Vice President had been staying at in Aden was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades early Tuesday morning, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Yemen’s Vice President Khaled Bahah, who is also the country’s Prime Minister, was staying at al-Qasr Hotel since his return to the liberated city of Aden on September 16 along with several members of his cabinet. Officials reported that Bahah had survived the attack unhurt.

Bahah’s return from exile in Saudi Arabia follows that of several other Yemeni ministers who relocated to Aden from the kingdom in the weeks after the city’s recapture. Bahah made a brief visit to Aden on Aug. 1.Rockets had reportedly hit the entrance of the hotel and ambulances and civil defence forces were on the scene. The missile appeared to have been fired at the gate of the hotel. A second missile landed nearby, while a third landed in the city's Buraiqah district, residents said.

Live pictures on Al Arabiya News Channel showed the hotel, located in Aden's western suburbs. surrounded by columns of black smoke.

In July, Bahah announced online the “liberation” of Aden after four months of devastating fighting between loyalist forces and Houthi militias.

Yemeni troops and fighters, backed by a Gulf-led coalition, had driven out the militia from in the southern port city.

Fierce fighting in Aden broke out in March as empowered Iran-allied Houthis expanded their bid for power from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which they overran in September. The militias have allied with several military units loyal to Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.