ADEN: Yemen’s Health Minister Qasim Buhaibeh said a Houthi attack on the Al-Maashiq presidential palace killed five people and wounded 16 on Thursday.
Buhaibeh said the casualties included guards and civilian employees. The complex houses the internationally recognised government in the southern port city, its interim capital.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani confirmed that the prime minister and cabinet members were safe. He described an attack involving five missiles.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed his forces struck a Saudi military operations headquarters in Aden. Houthi-run Saba news agency described Saudi officers and weapons depots at the complex. Reuters has not independently verified the claims about those targets.
An AFP journalist saw smoke rising from the area. Residents reported hearing explosions.
Saudi Arabia separately accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis’ latest escalation and continuing to supply weapons and training. Rayed Krimly, deputy minister for public diplomacy at the Saudi foreign ministry, maintained that Riyadh remained in contact with Tehran.
Krimly accused the Houthis of rejecting a Saudi invitation to talks in Oman.
“We asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman, and they refused,” he told reporters. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry later clarified that the exchange took place in July.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition claimed it intercepted Houthi drones targeting the kingdom’s southern region and Khamis Mushait. Yemeni government forces accused the group of firing ballistic missiles at Marib.
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Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki urged the Houthis to halt attacks on civilian facilities. He claimed the group had acquired advanced missiles, drones and explosive-laden boats with assistance from regional actors.
According to the coalition, Houthi attacks targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport 20 times this month. Maliki put the cumulative toll there at 17 people killed and 333 wounded.
The governing council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation condemned recent attacks on Saudi civilian airports, aircraft and aviation infrastructure.
Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen’s government since 2015. A years-long truce subsequently collapsed, and the Houthis launched a new offensive in September.
United Nations agencies describe Yemen’s conflict as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with most of the population dependent on aid.
