Photo taken on Aug. 1, 2019 shows a pro-government military base after a ballistic missile attack in Aden, Yemen. A ballistic missile fired by the Houthi rebel group targeted a graduation ceremony held inside a pro-government military base in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Thursday morning, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 25 others, a military official told Xinhua. (Photo by Murad Abdo/Xinhua)
ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- A ballistic missile fired by the Houthi rebel group targeted a graduation ceremony held inside a pro-government military base in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Thursday morning, killing 17 soldiers and injuring 25 others, a military official told Xinhua.
The military source said on condition of anonymity that "a ballistic missile landed on the military base of Jalaa in Buraiga district of Aden province, killing around 17 soldiers and injuring nearly 25 who were participating in a graduation ceremony."
The ballistic missile attack occurred while several military leaders were attending a military parade at the military base of the newly-recruited Yemeni army forces backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Aden, the official said.
Brigadier Munir Abu Yamamah, leader of the 1st Armored Brigade, was killed while he was present during the military parade held for graduating a new batch of the UAE-backed Yemeni troops in Aden, a government official told Xinhua.
Medical sources at Buraiga hospital confirmed to Xinhua that around 17 soldiers were killed and nearly 25 others injured as a result of the Houthi-fired ballistic missile in Aden.
A Xinhua reporter near the scene confirmed that several ambulances were still transferring the killed and injured soldiers into different hospitals in Aden.
The Houthi-affiliated Masirah television network claimed responsibility for launching a ballistic missile against the pro-government military base in Aden's district of Buraiga, in the city's western part.
Earlier in the day, a car bombing attack struck a police station in Aden's neighborhood of Sheikh Othman, killing four security members and injuring 20 others at the scene.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack, but the security source blamed it on extremist groups.
Yemeni government officials, including high-ranking security commanders and intelligence officers, have been the prime targets in attacks by unknown gunmen during the past months.
Considered Yemen's temporary capital, Aden is where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself since 2015.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa.
