2 ministers Yemen government survive assassination attempt

The Yemeni interior minister and transport minister both survived an assassination attempt in the eastern province of Shabwa, government sources reported early today.

The source told Al-Khaleej Online that the security authorities found a car bomb near the residence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Ahmed Al-Maisari, and Transport Minister, Saleh Al-Jabwani, in the provincial capital Ataq.

The city had recently been declared as the current interim capital of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi having been ousted from the administrative capital Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014 and later the port city of Aden which until recently was in the hands of UAE-backed separatists.

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Although no one has claimed responsibility, two people have thus far been arrested in connection with the bomb plot.

The assassination attempt comes two days after Al-Maisari criticised the UAE and announced that its project in Yemen had fallen, adding that it would not accept any agreement with the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The UAE has withdrawn its military presence in the country, as coalition partner Saudi Arabia consolidates control over the southern city of Aden amid reports that a power sharing agreement has been reached between the Hadi government and the STC.