Yemen: 22 killed in Aden airport blast

Cairo: At least 22 people were killed on Wednesday in a powerful explosion that hit Yemen's Aden airport upon the arrival of a new government from Saudi Arabia, medical sources said.

Fifty others were injured in the blast that occurred as members of the cabinet got off the plane, news portal Aden Al Ghad reported, quoting the sources.

The members of the government were transferred for safety to the Al Maasheeq palace in Aden following the explosion, Saudi television Al Arabiya reported.

The new Yemeni government was formed earlier this month as part of a Saudi-brokered pact between the internationally recognised authority and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi had decreed the formation of the 24-member government, led by previous prime minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed.

STC official Salem Thabet confirmed that members of the government and local authorities were not harmed. "There are martyrs and injured among the security officers and guards at the airport," Thabet added in a tweet.

Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar Al Eryani accused Al Houthi militia of carrying out the attack.

"This cowardly terrorist attack carried out by the Iran-supported Al Houthi militia at Aden airport will not deter us from doing our national unity," he added on his twitter account.

Al Houthis plunged Yemen into a devastating conflict in late 2014 when they toppled the internationally recognised government and seized the capital Sana'a.

Footage from the scene at the airport showed members of the government delegation disembarking as the blast shook the grounds. Many ministers rushed back inside the plane or ran down the stairs, seeking shelter.

Thick smoke rose into the air from near the terminal building. Officials at the scene said they saw bodies lying on the tarmac and elsewhere at the airport.

Yemeni Communication Minister Naguib al-Awg, who was on the plane, said that he heard two explosions, suggesting they were drone attacks.