Rocket attacks target government headquarters in Yemen's Aden

About three rockets hit the headquarters of Yemen's prime minister and his cabinet in the southern port city of Aden on Tuesday morning, causing massive explosions that rocked the whole city, local sources told Xinhua.

"The hotel where Yemen's Prime Minister Khaled Bahah has been residing along with a number of ministers and elite troops of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was targeted by rocket attacks," a local military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Medical sources said that initial reports indicate that more than 18 people were killed during the attack, most of them are the UAE soldiers who were guarding the hotel.

Columns of black smoke could be seen rising from the targeted hotel and heavy armored vehicles and UAE troopers were deployed around the area, according to Xinhua reporter near the scene.

Witnesses said that warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition were heard flying over Aden city a few minutes after the blasts took place at the government headquarters.

Bahah and his cabinet returned to Aden city last month after months of exile in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Enditem