A rocket-propelled grenade hit a hotel in the Yemeni city of Aden that houses members of deposed President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s government, officials said.
At least 15 people were killed in the attack Tuesday on the Al Qasr hotel, according to the United Arab Emirates’ official news agency WAM.
Four UAE soldiers were among the dead, the agency said. And the Saudi official press agency SPA said one Saudi soldier was killed.
All of the Yemeni government officials were unharmed and were immediately evacuated from the hotel, Transport Minister Badr Basalma told CNN. Those officials are still staying in Aden.
Prime Minister Khaled Bahah, who lives at the Al Qasr, was part of the first group to be evacuated by helicopter, Basalma said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Basalma blamed Yemen’s Houthi rebels and militias loyal to ousted President Ali Abdallah Saleh, who preceded Hadi in office.
“Only they have the technical capacity to do this,” he said. “These were long-range rockets with high accuracy, and it’s the Houthi militias, with the technical support from Iran, who have this capability.
Conflict has killed thousands
A vicious, protracted conflict has plunged the impoverished Middle Eastern nation into chaos this year.
A Saudi-led coalition, which backs the Hadi government, has been carrying out wave after wave of airstrikes in an effort to dislodge the Houthi rebels who took control of the capital, Sanaa, earlier this year.
The Shiite Muslim Houthis are aligned with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s bitter regional rival.
At least 4,000 civilians have been killed during the war, according to the Houthi-controlled Health Ministry.
Hadi, Bahah and other members of the government returned from exile in Saudi Arabia last month. They are based in Aden, where forces loyal to them hold sway.
Fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to Hadi has raged across the country, enabling terrorist groups like al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and ISIS to exploit the security vacuum.