The Houthi forces launched a coordinated ballistic missile and drone assault on the al-Maashiq Presidential Palace in Aden on Thursday, leaving five people dead and 16 others wounded.
The attack on the palace – which serves as the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government – coincided with a fresh wave of cross-border aerial incursions intercepted over Saudi Arabian territory, marking a sharp escalation in regional hostilities.
According to Yemeni Health Minister Qasim Buhaibeh, the casualties were primarily sustained by military and security personnel stationed across the compound. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani confirmed that Prime Minister Shayea al-Zandani and attending cabinet members escaped unharmed. Eyewitnesses reported hearing at least six loud detonations, with officials confirming that three projectiles hit a command centre operated by the Saudi-led coalition within the facility.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the Aden strike, asserting that the operation successfully struck coalition operational headquarters and adjacent ordnance stores.
Simultaneously, the Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting multiple incoming airborne targets across Saudi airspace. Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki disclosed that air defences intercepted a cruise missile over western Medina province, whilst an unmanned aerial vehicle was downed over the oil-producing Eastern Province alongside further drones near military installations in Khamis Mushait.
In an unusual departure, Saree explicitly denied Houthi involvement in the strikes over Saudi soil, amid historical pledges by the group to avoid military operations near Islamic holy sites including Mecca and Medina.
The heightened cross-border friction follows intense pressure on Saudi domestic defences, with Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport targeted 20 times in the first fortnight of October alone. The barrage includes an October 10 strike on the airport that claimed 13 lives, followed by an attack on Wednesday that ignited a blaze at a Saudi Aramco corporate facility.
The escalation comes in the wake of a pro-government offensive that eliminated senior Houthi drone commander Abu al-Fadl al-Hadrami. While analysts interpret the precision strike on Aden as a show of force aimed at demonstrating persistent asymmetric capabilities, the United Nations cautioned that the widening conflict risks deepening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, imperilling vital relief supplies to more than 800,000 civilians.
