At least six explosions struck on Thursday near the palace used by Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the port city of Aden, witnesses said.
An official told the Associated Press that at least two people were killed, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen quickly claimed responsibility. Government military sources in Yemen told Agence-France Press (AFP) that at least four people were killed and ۱۰ wounded.
An AFP journalist saw smoke rising and residents of the city reported hearing explosions during the attack, the first on the complex since Yemen’s civil war flared back to life in July.
A government minister said on condition of anonymity that the Yemeni prime minister, Shaya al-Zindani, had been present at the time, but “was not harmed in any way”.
It was a rare attack on the palace area, as fighting has escalated between the rebels and a Saudi-led coalition on the latest front in the Iran war. The explosions caused panic among residents, who fled the area.
At least two people were killed and six wounded, said the official, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. The government said the Houthis attacked with missiles and drones, the Aden-based Saba news agency reported.
A security official told the AP that at least two explosions were on top of the hill near Al-Maashiq palace, and two others were near the security gate.
AFP also reported that a Yemeni government minister said on condition of anonymity on Thursday that a Houthi missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden had hit a command center for the Saudi-led coalition. The official added that the command center was hit by three missiles, and the headquarters of the coalition forces at the presidential complex with two missiles, adding that there were Yemeni and Saudi casualties, without providing a specific toll.
There was no immediate confirmation of the report that the prime minister was in the presidential palace at the time of Houthi attack. Many of Yemen’s government leaders are living in exile, and those in Aden were safe, a government official told the AP.
The Houthis said they attacked a military operations headquarters with the “Saudi enemy”, part of their strategy of attacking Saudi targets that has included a series of attacks on airports and oil infrastructure inside the kingdom.
The escalation has complicated efforts to end the wider Iran war and further rattled global markets as Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s top oil exporters, faces repeated attacks. Regional aviation is affected, too, as the rebels have warned airlines about their use of Saudi airspace for attacks. Thousands of flights across the kingdom have been disrupted.
Earlier on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it intercepted a cruise missile over the province of Medina. Flightradar۲۴, a tracking platform, said dozens of flights were canceled or delayed at Jeddah’s airport.
The coalition statement did not assign blame for the attack. The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig Gen Yahya Saree, denied the rebels carried it out. The group previously pledged not to attack airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia also said it destroyed a drone over the country’s eastern province, a major oil-producing region, and intercepted a drone in Khamis Mushait, near a major military airbase.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia said the headquarters of the oil giant Saudi Aramco were hit by Houthi attacks, and reported damage to the building.
Inside Yemen, the fighting has revived a devastating civil war after four years of relative calm. One focus of alarm is the Houthi-besieged city of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, where residents were running short of basic necessities.
