Thread by @SanaaCenter

THREAD: Research Fellow @hu_rdman writes about the attack on Aden airport on Dec 30, 2020, when he and other colleagues narrowly escaped death at what should have been a celebratory occasion welcoming the arrival of the newly formed Yemeni government.
sanaacenter.org/publications/a…

At the #Aden airport, "the crowd was divided in two: to the right were #STC supporters... and to the left were supporters of the #GoY. However, the groups soon mingled and exchanged greetings... I whispered to a colleague: “It seems Santa Claus has been generous this year."

But around 2:00 pm, the airport was hit by three explosions, & it took @hu_rdman awhile to realize what had happened. "Five minutes & just 20 meters saved us from certain death. A loud explosion rocked the airport lounge, where we were supposed to go to carry out live coverage."

The attack caused a frenzied chaos and people ran either toward the ICRC aircraft or ditch in the dirt. "I thought to myself that perhaps it was better to stop than run blindly with no direction, but with my family in mind I decided to keep on running."

Ten minutes passed without hearing any further explosions, and everyone began checking on friends via phone. We then returned to the scene of the explosions to help the injured and examine the damage.

The first missile had hit the passengers lounge; the second targeted a grassy area in front of the lounge; and the third struck Square 1 of the runway, where the aircraft was supposed to land... A fourth missile was supposed to target the airplane but had failed to launch.

The next day, PM @DrMaeenSaeed met with the rest of the cabinet ministers at Ma’ashiq Palace, where they announced that the government held the #Houthis and experts from the #Iran-ian Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for the terrorist attack.

The #GoY's placement of blame was initially denied by the #Houthi authorities in Sana’a, but later on, there were remarks by hawkish Houthi figures closer to #Iran hinting otherwise... The Houthis’ “deterrence” formula took the lives of more than 20 people and injured dozens.

News reports confirmed the martyrdom of my colleague, fellow journalist Adib Al-Janani, a correspondent at Belqees TV, and provided a final count of the dead and injured, which was much higher than my initial expectations.