Yemen's Houthi rebels fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people and wounding 16, according to Yemeni officials. It was the first strike on the Al-Maashiq palace, seat of the internationally recognised government, since fighting resumed this year. Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and other ministers were unhurt, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said.
The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that controls Sanaa and much of western Yemen, said they had hit a Saudi military operations headquarters inside the palace, in line with a policy of targeting Saudi reinforcements wherever they are. An anonymous Yemeni minister told AFP that a coalition command centre was struck, with Yemeni and Saudi casualties. Health Minister Qasim Buhaibeh said the dead and wounded included guards and civilian employees. Zindani called the attack "cowardly", and President Rashad al-Alimi ordered security forces to protect state institutions and respond to threats while vowing to continue an offensive aimed at retaking territory up to Sanaa.
The strike came amid intensifying attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition says Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport has been targeted 20 times this month; a strike last Saturday killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest attack in the kingdom in over a decade. The airport remains closed. The coalition also reported intercepting a cruise missile over the Medina region and drones over the Eastern Province and near Khamis Mushait. The Houthis denied attacking Medina and had pledged not to target Mecca or Medina. Saudi Aramco's headquarters was reportedly damaged earlier this week.
The UN Security Council condemned the "escalatory" Houthi attacks, including "reckless strikes" on Riyadh's airport, and threats to Red Sea shipping. Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Rayed Krimly accused Iran of encouraging the escalation by arming and training the Houthis, and said the Houthis recently declined a Saudi request to meet in Muscat, Oman. Iran has denied supplying weapons, saying it offers political support, and its foreign minister called the Saudi blockade of the Houthis unlawful while offering help to start talks. The EU-Gulf summit planned for Riyadh on 24 October was postponed, and a FIFAe tournament in Jeddah was also delayed.
The fighting reignited a civil war that began in 2014, after four years of informal calm. Analysts say the Houthis hold a varied arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, many derived from Iranian designs. Washington Institute analyst April Longley Alley described them as battle-hardened and used to absorbing air campaigns. The human cost is mounting: Yemen's health ministry reports at least 1,282 people killed since 6 August, while the UN cites 201,000 newly displaced and a surge in suspected cholera. The World Food Programme says fighting is blocking aid to more than 600,000 people around besieged Taiz. The conflict is also rattling oil markets, with Brent crude around $105 a barrel.