CAIRO — Yemen’s government accused the United Arab Emirates of bombing its troops on Thursday as they tried to retake the southern city of Aden from Emirati-backed separatists.

At least 25 soldiers were killed and 150 wounded in the airstrikes on Thursday morning, a government commander said by phone from the scene of the attack. Warplanes had struck the same position 14 hours earlier but inflicted no casualties, the commander added.

The attack came weeks after the Emirati-backed rebels ousted the Saudi-backed Yemeni government from Aden and widens the rift between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which are allies in Yemen’s war.

The Yemeni information minister, Moammar al-Eryani, condemned the “treacherous” Emirati attack, which he said had killed a total of 40 soldiers and civilians.