In brief
Five Houthi‑fired missiles slammed into the presidential palace in Aden, killing two soldiers and wounding dozens. Yemeni officials say the prime minister and other ministers survived the attack. The incident comes amid an escalating war between the Saudi‑backed government and Iran‑aligned Houthis, who have been targeting Saudi sites while the coalition carries out air strikes in Yemen. The attack intensified fears of a broader regional escalation as Yemen’s deadliest conflict rages on.
A Houthi missile strike slammed into Yemen’s presidential palace in Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government, killing two security personnel and injuring many others. Five ballistic missiles, reportedly launched by Iran‑supported rebels, hit the al‑Maashiq Palace, but the prime minister and his cabinet escaped serious harm.
Information Minister Moammar al‑Eryani said the ministers were unharmed, but several officials were wounded. The rebels’ spokesman Yahya Sarea described the raid as a strike on the “Saudi enemy’s military operations headquarters in Aden.”
The attack follows a string of Houthi missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports, oil facilities and military bases, a retaliation to Saudi air strikes on Houthi‑held territory in Yemen’s western heartland. One recent raid on Riyadh airport killed 13 civilians, the worst Saudi blast in more than a decade.
Saudi‑led forces have been supporting the Yemeni government in an offensive along the south‑western Red Sea coast and other fronts, aiming to regain control of strategic points like the Bab al‑Mandab Strait. The Houthis claimed they had seized parts of that region in September, heightening tensions and driving up oil prices globally.
Yemen’s civil war, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis ousted the recognised government, has left at least 1,282 civilians dead and 5,890 injured since August 2026, according to the health ministry. The United Nations reports 201,000 displaced people and rising cholera cases, underscoring the humanitarian crisis.
The current escalation has Tehran’s involvement once again spotlighted, with Saudi foreign minister Rayed Krimly accusing Iran of supplying arms and training to the Houthis, a claim Iran denies. Iran’s foreign minister remains ready to facilitate talks, although no immediate response followed the latest firestorm.
