Aden, Feb 7 : A high-level delegation of European Union (EU) ambassadors to Yemen arrived in Aden, almost two months after the port city’s airport was hit by deadly bombings, a government official has confirmed.
“The EU’s ambassadors to Yemen along with high-ranking diplomatic officials arrived at Aden’s International Airport on their first visit to the country’s temporary capital of Aden,” the official told Xinhua news agency on Saturday.
The EU delegation was instantly accompanied by armoured vehicles and headed to the presidential compound where the new power-sharing government is based, the official said.
It is scheduled that the EU’s delegation will discuss a number of issues with the Yemeni government, including the situation in the government-controlled provinces and the progress of implementing the Riyadh deal.
On Wednesday, an international team comprising senior experts arrived in Aden to investigate the bombings.
At least 22 people were killed and some 50 others injured after three massive explosions struck the airport on December 30 just minutes after the arrival of members of a new power-sharing government from Saudi Arabia.
The coordinated blasts targeted local officials and employees gathered to welcome the government members at the airport.
The new Yemeni government was established in accordance with the terms of the Riyadh Peace Agreement jointly signed in November 2019 between the Yemeni government and the leaders of the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
In 2019, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which resulted in a deal to form a new technocratic cabinet of no more than 24 ministers.
But numerous obstacles have stood in the way of implementing the deal, which excluded the Houthi rebels who are still controlling the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern regions including Sanaa.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.