A large explosion struck the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden as a plane carrying the newly formed Cabinet landed there, security officials said. The source of the blast was not immediately clear and no group claimed responsibility for the explosion. No one on the government plane was hurt but officials at the scene said they saw bodies lying on the tarmac and elsewhere at the airport.

The Cabinet members, including Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, as well as Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Said al-Jaber were transferred safely to the city's presidential palace, the witnesses and Saudi media said.

Images shared on social media from the scene showed rubble and broken glass strewn about near the airport building and at least two lifeless bodies, one of them charred, lying on the ground. In another image, a man was trying to help another man whose clothes were torn to get up from the ground, according to The Associated Press (AP).

The ministers, headed by Saeed, were returning to Aden after being sworn in last week as part of a reshuffle following a deal with rival southern separatists.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government has worked mostly from self-imposed exile in the Saudi capital of Riyadh during the country’s yearslong civil war.

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18:00

At least 13 people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on Aden airport on Wednesday moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet for government-held parts of Yemen.

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16:01

Explosions and gunfire were heard in the vicinity of Yemen’s Aden airport as new cabinet members arrived in the city, according to a witness and local media reports.

The Yemen government, including southern separatists, returned to the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday to resume work, amid a heavy security presence. Witness Saleh Mohammed said by phone that gunfire and clashes were heard after a blast.

Local Aden Alghad newspaper reported the blast as well.

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