Houthi strike on Yemen’s presidential palace kills two guards, officials say

Aden, Yemen. Yemen’s Houthis launched missiles against the presidential compound in Aden on Thursday, with officials telling Reuters that two guards had died. As the conflict escalated, the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen gave details of dozens of strikes targeting Saudi infrastructure.

Government leaders reported safe

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the prime minister and other cabinet members were unharmed. The cabinet reported that both drones and missiles were used, while witnesses interviewed by Reuters described hearing loud explosions close to the palace.

The strike was the first against al-Maashiq palace during the current confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis. Located in southern Yemen, the complex houses the country’s internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government.

The fighting has become another front in the broader regional war, which began in February with strikes against Iran by the US and Israel.

Houthis describe military target

Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said the group had bombed a site in Aden that he identified as a headquarters for Saudi military operations. He linked the strike to the group’s stated policy of attacking “Saudi reinforcements wherever they were located”.

SABA, the Houthi-controlled news agency, claimed Saudi officers operated the headquarters and that weapons storage facilities were located there. Reuters was unable to verify those assertions independently.

Renewed fighting and supply concerns

Hostilities involving the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces restarted in Yemen last month. Aid organisations have warned that conditions are deteriorating rapidly.

Government troops began an offensive last week aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory. They regained ground close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a major passage for international shipping.

In Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, residents have reported increasingly heavy bombardment and shrinking supplies as Houthi forces strengthen their control over surrounding areas. The city lies northwest of Aden.

Palace was seized during earlier fighting

Yemen’s war began in 2014 after Houthi forces captured Sanaa, forcing the government to move south. Saudi Arabia led a military intervention in 2015, followed by a bloody military deadlock and then a truce in 2022. That ceasefire remained in place until this year.

During that earlier period of the war, Houthi fighters and their allies briefly captured al-Maashiq palace while fighting for control of Aden, but subsequently withdrew.