Iran-backed Houthi militia launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on a military parade in Aden, the seat of internationally-recognized government, killing 36 people according to the interior ministry. An explosion hit a military camp belonging to the Yemeni Security Belt forces, a witness said. Soldiers screamed and ran to lift the wounded and place them on trucks. Red berets lay on the ground in pools of blood as several soldiers cried near the body of a commander who was a leading figure among southern separatists. Yemen's Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed and Saudi Arabia's envoy to Yemen, in separate tweets, accused Iran of being behind both the parade attack and a separate blast at a police station, also in the southern port city on Thursday, involving an explosives-laden car. Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Bin Saeed Al-Jaber said the two attacks indicate that Iran "shares common goals with fellow terrorists such as Daesh (the so-called IS) and Al-Qaeda". The Houthis' official channel Al Masirah TV said the group had launched a medium-range ballistic missile and an armed drone at the parade. The commander killed at the parade was Brigadier General Muneer Al-Yafee, the interior ministry said. Yafee had stepped off the stage to greet a guest when the explosion took place. Flags of the former South Yemen and those of the coalition fluttered as the military band was waiting for its cue to start playing. "The blast occurred behind the stand where the ceremony was taking place at Al Jalaa military camp in Buraiqa district in Aden," the Reuters witness said. The Houthi military spokesman said the parade was being used to prepare for an advance on Taiz and Dalea provinces. —
