Houthis launch deadly attack on Yemeni presidential palace in escalating campaign against Saudi Arabia

Iran-aligned Houthi rebels carried out a deadly attack on the presidential Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, the headquarters of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, on Thursday, killing five people, including two members of Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zindani’s security detail.

The missile and drone attack also injured 16 people, according to Yemen’s Health Ministry, while the Houthis claimed they were targeting an alleged Saudi military operations center inside the compound.

Yemen’s Health Minister Qasim Mohammed Buhaibeh said the casualties included security personnel and civilian employees working at the government complex, which serves as a key workplace for senior officials including the prime minister.

In a statement posted by the government’s Ministry of Information, officials said the prime minister and members of the government were safe following the attack.

The strike is one of the highest-profile attacks on the Yemeni government since its launch earlier this month of operation “Yemen’s Dawn” — the latest campaign in its long-running war against the rebels.

The internationally recognized government took Aden as its de facto capital after the Houthis seized the official capital, Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia has since backed the government in its fight against the rebels, in an effort to contain the conflict on its southern border.

The Houthis claimed Thursday’s strike was part of a declared strategy of targeting Saudi military deployments wherever they are located.

“The shelling of the Saudi enemy’s war operations headquarters in Aden comes within the framework of the declared equation of targeting Saudi military build-ups wherever they may be, and considering any military presence of the Saudi enemy a legitimate target for our forces,” the statement said.

The Yemeni government did not immediately provide additional details about the type of missiles used or the extent of the damage at the palace compound.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, who has visited the palace twice, most recently in 2019, said the complex sits on a fortified rocky outcrop overlooking Aden and is accessed via a heavily secured road.

In a statement issued later Thursday, Yemen’s Cabinet said the attack involved both missiles and drones, adding that it would not affect the government’s operations or its campaign against the Houthis.

“Yemen’s future will not be held hostage by a militia that bears arms against its own people, targets the security of its neighbors, and relies on violence to compensate for the Yemeni people’s rejection of its coup-driven agenda,” it said.

The attack came less than an hour after Houthi forces renewed warnings that Saudi airspace and airports were unsafe and that they retained the capability to “respond in kind” to ongoing Saudi attacks on Yemen.