Five people were killed and 16 others injured after Houthi rebels launched a missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden, southern Yemen, where the internationally recognised government is based.
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told the BBC that Prime Minister Shaya Zindani and other ministers were unharmed after five ballistic missiles struck al-Maashiq Palace.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said the group had targeted what he described as the Saudi military operations headquarters in Aden.
Yemen’s Health Minister Qasim Buhaibeh said those killed and injured included security personnel guarding the site and civilian employees.
Zindani condemned the attack as “cowardly”, describing it as a continuation of the Houthis’ “criminal behaviour”. He said the government would continue carrying out its duties and that the attack would not weaken its forces’ determination to fight the rebels along Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast and other front lines.
The attack comes amid escalating hostilities between the Iran-backed Houthis and forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which receives military backing from a Saudi-led coalition.
Earlier, the Houthis denied attacking Saudi Arabia on Thursday after the coalition said it had intercepted a cruise missile in the Medina region, home to one of Islam’s holiest sites.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Saudi airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in retaliation for strikes on areas under their control in western Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
On Saturday, a Houthi missile strike killed 13 people at Riyadh’s international airport, marking Saudi Arabia’s deadliest attack in more than a decade.
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Rayed Krimly accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to intensify their campaign against the kingdom.
“Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” he told reporters, according to AFP.
Krimly said Riyadh believed Iran was encouraging the latest escalation. Tehran did not immediately respond but has previously denied supplying weapons to the Houthis, saying its support for the group was political.
Iran’s foreign minister has also offered to provide assistance to facilitate talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government. The conflict escalated in 2015 after a Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government’s control.
An informal ceasefire that had lasted four years began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia and launched missile and drone attacks on its airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The rebels said their actions were retaliation for what they described as a Saudi blockade of their territory and an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on Riyadh.
The conflict intensified in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to rising oil prices following six months of war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
Last week, pro-government forces said they had recaptured territory overlooking the strait in a major counter-offensive backed by Saudi air strikes.
Yemen’s Health Ministry reported that at least 1,282 people had been killed and 5,890 injured in the fighting since Aug 6. The United Nations has also reported that about 201,000 people have been displaced, alongside an alarming increase in suspected cholera cases.
