Houthi forces have struck the area around the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden, the port city in southern Yemen, using several missiles. Yemen’s Information Minister, Moammar al-Eryani, said in a social media post on Thursday that the palace had been targeted with five missiles.
The government said the prime minister and other officials were unharmed, but two bodyguards were killed in the attack. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the palace grounds, and correspondents reported explosions nearby earlier in the day.
Palace strike seen as a sharp escalation in Yemen
The palace serves as the headquarters and seat of power for the Saudi-backed government, which is internationally recognised. Reporter Yousef Mawry, speaking from the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, described the attacks on the government’s headquarters as the “first of their kind” carried out by the group.
Mawry said the strike suggested the conflict would intensify between the two sides. He added that people inside the country are increasingly worried about “an all-out civil war” that could draw in other regional powers besides Saudi Arabia.
Fighting intensifies around Taiz and Dhubab airport
The attack in Aden came as fighting between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, meaning Supporters of God, and Saudi-backed forces grew more intense in Taiz. The Houthis effectively besiege the city, which is Yemen’s third largest, and the wider Taiz governorate in the southwest.
Control of Taiz and its governorate would give either side significant command over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical waterway. Forces allied with the government said they were repelling a Houthi attack on Dhubab airport, while the pro-government Homeland Shield Force said it was securing the airport alongside the Southern Giants Brigades.
Aid agencies say the escalating violence in Taiz is pushing the healthcare system close to collapse. On Sunday, the Ministry of Public Health warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” in the city.
Saudi-led coalition details strikes on airports and ports
The Saudi-led coalition says Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has faced at least 20 Houthi attacks over the past 11 days. Dozens of other airports, oil facilities and ports have also been targeted, according to the alliance.
Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, released footage at a news conference in the Saudi capital. It showed strikes on the main airport and passengers running for safety. The coalition says the Houthi attacks have killed 17 people and injured more than 300.
Al-Maliki also accused the Houthis of obtaining ballistic missiles from other countries in the region. Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the news conference was intended as a response to “some of the, perhaps, military and security failures”.
Elmasry said the fact that missiles are getting through could damage the perception of Saudi deterrence. He also said the Houthis face their own image problem, with the global community viewing their actions as “reprehensible, in particular these targeting civilian infrastructure”.
