Aden hotel used by Yemen govt hit by missile, casualties feared
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ADEN: Unidentified assailants fired a missile at a hotel in Aden used by senior Yemeni government officials on Tuesday, causing a number of casualties, residents said.
The residents said they had unconfirmed reports that about 10 people were killed or wounded.
Yemeni vice president Khaled Bahah and other Yemeni officials were unhurt in the attack, officials said. President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is believed to be overseas.
Video footage posted on Twitter purporting to show the incident showed a large sheet of flame enveloping the front of the building, followed by an expanding plume of dark smoke.
The missile appeared to have been fired at the gate of the hotel, they said.
A second missile landed nearby, while a third landed in the city's Buraiqah district, residents said.
Initial reports had described the missiles as rocket-propelled grenades. There was no official word to confirm what type of projectile had been used in the attack.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) condemned the attack and suggested it was carried out by Houthi rebels and their main local ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said in a Twitter message the attack on the hotel was further proof that the Houthis and Saleh were determined to destroy Yemen.
"The situation on the ground shows that they are waging a losing battle and that their role has been diminished to retreating on the ground and to try to inflict damage with mines, ambushes and rockets," he said in another message.
A local newspaper, Aden al-Ghad, reported on its website that Bahah said after the attack he was determined to stay in the city.
The Qasr hotel has been the base of Hadi's government since its gradual return from exile in Riyadh over recent weeks, after Houthi fighters were expelled in July.
The hotel has been guarded by troops from the UAE, one of the members of a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting since March to end Houthi control of Yemen and restore Hadi to power in the capital, Sanaa.
