Yemen’s PM says airport attack aimed to ‘eliminate’ Cabinet

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s prime minister says that an attack on the airport in Aden was meant “to eliminate” the country’s new government as it arrived in the southern city.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed spoke on Saturday to The Associated Press at his office in the Mashiq Palace in Aden. It was his first interview with international media after he survived Wednesday’s attack that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110 others.

The new Yemeni government was formed in December to end a dangerous political rift with southern separatists who are backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government is backed by Saudi Arabia which leads a military intervention against the country’s Iran-backed rebels.