Aden (south24)

Less than 24 hours after the missile attack on Aden International Airport in South Yemen, on Wednesday, - which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries, including journalists and civilians, during the arrival of the new parity government,- the Houthi militia recognized their responsibility for the "terrorist operation", according to experts, at a time when it was considered The United Nations denotes the attack as a "war crime".

After the attack, a member of the so-called “Houthi Supreme Political Council, leader Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi,” said that “strategic experts” can now say that the Houthis have reached a stage of what he considered a “balance of deterrence.”

"A victory achieved by the Yemeni heroes of the military and security establishment," the Houthi leader added, on his official page on Twitter, while he was proud of this achievement. "This is what millions of Yemeni people can be proud of."

The journalist and researcher from South Yemen, Hussam Radman, considered "the significance of this statement is deeper than the mere recognition of the crime, which was clear from the beginning," he says, but he was surprised "that the wing, organically linked to Tehran, risked to taking responsibility for this terrorist act, contrary to what it might require the interest of the Houthi group."

According to Radman, when "the airport operation failed to achieve its strategic objectives, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi is trying to extract media momentum through it."

"The decision to bomb the airport was Iranian par excellence, and the prime minister spoke yesterday about information indicating a direct role for Iranian experts who planned and executed," Radman said in a comment sent to "south24" on Houthi’s twitt.

"This escalation cannot be separated from the regional context, as Tehran promised to respond forcefully on the anniversary of the killing of Soleimani, and Yemen has become its ideal arena for response," he said.

The Yemeni Foreign Ministry accused the Houthi militia of being behind the "terrorist operation" by launching four ballistic missiles from Al-Janad airport in Taiz governorate, North Yemen.

The researcher on Yemeni political affairs, Badr Mohammad, told “south24” that the Houthi’s statements are two-fold, “a general external aspect that achieves for its military operations  a legitimacy of war trying to derive its strength from the legitimacy of an international game that is formed in the region on two opposing axes, Islamic and Arab.”

There is an internal side, according to Mohammad, "related to the recognition of criminal responsibility for the incident targeting the government at Aden International Airport, but it is an admission that is trying to actually amount to an forces struggle and international balances, with the aim of evading criminal responsibility and international and strong condemnation of the Aden airport attack."

The Houthi Al Masirah TV published threats of more attacks in the new year, hours after the missile attack on Aden airport.

“What is coming in the year 2021 will surprise the enemy with much more than what has been achieved in 2020.” the Major General Abu Ali Al-Hakim, said to the Almasirah TV.

Iran tried to shake off responsibility for the terrorist attack, by holding the Saudi-led coalition responsible.

Fars news agency said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on Aden Airport on Wednesday.

"This type of violence and killing of civilians is a result of the perception of the aggressors and occupiers who destroyed all of Yemen in the name of a fabricated coalition," said theIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Al-Khatib. 

The terrorist attack on Aden International Airport coincided with the visit of the Iranian ambassador in Sanaa, Hassan Erlo, to the tomb of former President Saleh Al-Sammad, who was killed in an airstrike by the Arab coalition, in April 2018.

The researcher, Badr Muhammad, saw this visit carried a message that "the process of targeting the Yemeni government is legitimate work and falls within the framework of the publicy response to the method by which Al-Sammad was targeted."

War crime

The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, renewed his "categorical condemnation of the cowardly attack that took place on members of the Yemeni government upon their arrival at Aden airport."

"Yesterday was a very sad day for Yemen," said Mr. Griffiths, during a phone call with the Yemeni Foreign Minister, Mr. Ahmed bin Mubarak.

Griffiths considered, "The targeting of civilians and civilian facilities is a serious violation of international humanitarian law. This reprehensible attack horrified civilians in Aden, but also across the country."

"A violation of this scale may constitute a war crime," Griffiths emphasized.

The attack, which was described as a "terrorist" attack on Aden International Airport, was met with widespread Arab and international condemnation.

Challenge and line up

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the new parity Government held the Houthi militia, backed by Iran, responsible for the attack.

In a televised address by the official spokesman, Nizar Haitham, the Southern Transitional Council called on Saudi Arabia to support the security forces in southern Yemen, logistically.

Political researcher Hussam Radman refused to accuse the security forces in Aden of negligence.

"The Riyadh agreement was able to largely restructure the security structure in Aden," said radman to Belqis tv "all of them have become united in leadership, movements and orders."

The Saudi-led Arab coalition, which controls Yemen's airspace, was criticized for not providing advance air protection systems for the strategic headquarters and installations in Aden, the capital of South Yemen.

A worker collects waste from the missile attack at Aden airport, Thursday morning. (Activists)

The missile attack did not discourage the new government from performing its duties, as it appeared more defiant and determined to bypass the bloody attack.

Yesterday, Thursday, the government held its first ministerial meeting in Aden. Officials in the government and local authorities visited some of the wounded in the attack, as well as visited Aden International Airport and inspected the losses resulting from the attack.

Re-maintenance of the airport began early Thursday morning. Transport Ministry officials said the work in the airport would be restored within the next two days.

- Ayad Qassem