On 30 December 2020, a plane carrying members of the recently formed Yemeni government landed at Aden International Airport in the southwest of Yemen. As passengers disembarked, there were explosions and gunfire, leaving 28 people dead and 107 others injured. None of the passengers were hurt in the attack and the Yemeni cabinet members were quickly transported to Mashiq Palace for safety.
The airport attack allegedly led the Houthis, suspected of carrying out the attack, to be designated as a United States Foreign Terrorist Organization, a move human rights activists argued would worsen famine in Yemen. The designation went into effect the day before U.S. President Joe Biden was sworn in, whose administration revoked the designation about four weeks later.
Background
In order to deal with the infighting between the Yemeni government forces and those of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, a new cabinet was formed with the backing of neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The formation of the new unity government, which includes equal numbers of representatives from each region of Yemen's northern and southern areas, was the result of over a year's worth of intense negotiations mediated by the Saudis, and was meant to end the infighting so that the two sides could fight together against the Houthi rebels in the ongoing civil war.
Although the Yemeni government had been based in the temporary capital city of Aden after the Houthi rebels took control of the capital city Sanaa, its recent operations had usually been conducted while in exile in Saudi Arabia, since the Southern Transitional Council had seized Aden over a year earlier and forced the government out.
After the new 24-member cabinet was announced earlier in December, the new unity government, led by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, was sworn in by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on 26 December 2020 in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh.
The newly formed and internationally recognized government had planned to televise its return from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, to signal to its citizens that their worries were going to be addressed. The event was also meant to mark the successful result of the lengthy negotiations.
Attacks
On 30 December 2020, a Yemenia plane flew from Saudi Arabia to the port city of Aden in southwestern Yemen, carrying members of the newly formed Yemeni government, including the prime minister, as well as the Saudi ambassador to Yemen. The airport hall was crowded with local officials as well as civilians hoping to greet the members of the new cabinet. Hundreds of people had gathered on the airport apron outside.
Around 13:24, as the passengers disembarked, massive explosions were heard. A local security source had reported that "three mortar shells had landed on the airport's hall", while Yemeni Communication Minister Naguib al-Awg, who was among those flown in, has suggested they were drone strikes, and a spokesperson for the chairman of the Southern Transitional Council believed they were missiles. The Telegraph has reported that analysis of the explosion footage showed one explosion occurring on the north side of the airport terminal, and the second occurring around 30 seconds later about 20 metres (70 ft) away. One of the wounded recalled that a "missile hit the terminal's gate" while he was metres away.
The explosions sent the crowd of hundreds scrambling for cover, with the disembarking ministers either running back up into the plane or down the stairs to find shelter. Gunfire then erupted from armoured vehicles. Bodies lying on the airport apron and elsewhere at the airport were seen after the attack as thick plumes of black and white smoke emanated from the airport terminal.
Most of the casualties were reportedly civilians—including airport staff—with Voice of America reporting that most of the casualties had reportedly occurred within the terminal. However, all passengers that were aboard the plane remained unharmed. The cabinet members, as well as the Saudi ambassador, were quickly taken to Mashiq Palace, the presidential palace in Aden, for safety.
Another blast was heard about four hours later around Mashiq Palace. No casualties as a result of the later explosion were reported. Saudi-owned news channel Al Arabiya reported that an "explosive-laden drone" had been intercepted and destroyed nearby.
Casualties
At least 28 people were killed and 107 others were injured, with at least 30 wounded seriously enough to require major surgery. The casualties included aid workers and journalists, as well as government officials and members of the military.
Three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were killed, including two Yemenis and one Rwandan; three others were wounded, with one seriously so. Also among the dead was a reporter of Belqees TV, a Yemeni television news channel, who was reporting live from the airport when his connection went silent. Yemeni Minister of Information Moammer al-Iryani also reported that at least ten other journalists had also been wounded.
Yasmin al-Awadhi, deputy minister of housing and urban development at the Ministry of Public Works and Highways and one of the few female government officials, was killed in the attack. It was also reported that a deputy minister of youth and sport as well as a deputy transport minister were amongst those injured. In addition, September Net, a website of the armed forces of Yemen, reported that four colonels had died in the attack.
Aftermath
Yemen's Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak initially blamed the Houthis for the attack, and stated that four ballistic missiles had been fired at the airport, but made the statement without providing evidence. The Houthis denied responsibility, with its deputy information secretary placing the blame on the continued infighting between the government and the Southern Transitional Council, and naming the latter as the party most likely to have carried out the attack.
The Southern Transitional Council also blamed the Houthis, as well as Qatar and Turkey. Western officials stated that it was likely the work of Houthi rebels, but had not ruled out al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) or dissatisfied southern separatist factions.
Communication Minister Naguib al-Awg insisted that the plane had been the original target of the attacks, as the plane had landed later than previously planned. Deputy Information Minister Oussama Sharem stated that civilians heading to Cairo that were waiting inside had been targeted.
A United Nations flight that was originally heading to Aden that day ended up altering its course due to the attack.
Early the next day, a Saudi-led coalition conducted air strikes on Sanaa, the Houthi-held capital, apparently in retaliation for the previous day's attacks, which it had blamed on the Houthis. Warplanes carried out attacks over several hours, striking the airport as well as other areas of the city. Al Jazeera confirmed that there had been more than eight raids, while Houthi-owned television channel Almasirah reported that fifteen different locations had been hit in the city and the surrounding governorate, including sites in Sanhan and Bani Hashish Districts. Casualties had not been reported.
By morning, military checkpoints had been set up throughout Aden, and streets had been occupied by security forces. The airport reopened on 3 January 2021 amidst continued reconstruction, with Transport Minister Abdel Salam Hamid having announced the previous day that flights would return to normal.
About a week after the attack on the airport, on 6 January 2021, six civilians were killed and seven wounded during a Houthi shelling in the southwestern governorate of Taiz. The Houthi offensive continued for at least five days, with a spokesperson for the Yemeni army reporting that, in total, 12 people had been killed, 30 injured, and 50 taken as civilian hostages.
On 7 January 2021, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, visited the airport to review the damage sustained and met with members of the new cabinet. That evening, a loud explosion was heard outside a central prison in Aden. Several cars and a wall were damaged, but no casualties were reported.
Terrorist designation
On 10 January 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he intended to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), effective 19 January 2021, referring to the airport attack as an example of the Houthis' terrorist capabilities. Foreign Policy's sources reported that the attack led the administration "on an irreversible track toward the designation", despite the administration understanding that the designation would likely significantly exacerbate the humanitarian disaster in Yemen.
The Yemeni government welcomed the designation and urged the international community to take similar action, while various UN officials and a number of countries, including China, France, and Russia, voiced their concern over the humanitarian impact of the designation during a meeting of the UN Security Council on 14 January 2021.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock explained that because about 90 percent of the food in Yemen is imported, and formally designating the Houthis as an FTO would result in parties previously contributing to the food supply chain possibly aborting operations for fear of being put out of business or in jail due to U.S. regulations associated with the designation, Pompeo's decision would likely result in "a large-scale famine on a scale that we have not seen for nearly 40 years".
ICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart also voiced concerns about the designation's "chilling effect", while the executive director of the UN's World Food Programme, David Beasley, stated that the designation "is literally going to be a death sentence to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of innocent people".
In addition, a member of the transition team of then–U.S. president-elect Joe Biden, who took office the day after the terrorist designation became effective, stated that the decision to adopt the designation "feel[s] like sabotage", and accused Pompeo of "literally risking hundreds of thousands of lives" in order to "feed his own domestic political ambitions".
On 19 January, the day the designation went into effect, Biden's nominee for secretary of state Antony Blinken stated, during his Senate confirmation hearing, that the designation did "nothing particularly practical in advancing the efforts against the Houthis", and "propose[d] to review [the designation] immediately to make sure that what we are doing is not impeding the provision of human assistance".
On 22 January, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed that they had begun reviewing the designation and were working hard to quickly reach a conclusion. Twenty-two aid groups, including International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, and Save the Children, urged the Biden administration to revoke the designation to avoid "put[ting] millions of lives at risk" and "hurt[ing] UN-led efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict".
On 25 January, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a temporary exemption from sanctions for some transactions with the Houthis, with the exemption scheduled to expire on 26 February. However, the UN has noted that parties contributing to the food supply chain still intend to withdraw from Yemen due to the terrorist designation, notwithstanding the Treasury's month-long exemption.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis marched in Sanaa on 25 January to protest the terrorist designation.
It has been conjectured that a number of explosions occurring days after the terrorist designation became effective were due to Houthi missiles targeting Riyadh, and that the Houthis were no longer taking responsibility for their attacks partially due to the terrorist designation.
On 5 February, a U.S. State Department official confirmed that the Biden administration was planning to revoke the terrorist designation, after having informed members of Congress of the decision earlier that day. The news came about a day after President Biden announced that he was ending U.S. support of Saudi Arabia's participation in the Yemeni Civil War. Secretary of State Blinken later formally announced on 12 February that he was revoking the designation, effective 16 February.