Houthi missiles target presidential palace complex in Aden amid escalation
Houthi forces fired several missiles at the al-Maashiq Palace complex in Aden, Yemen, where the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council resides. Saudi media reported that Prime Minister Shaye al-Zindani and cabinet ministers were safe; witnesses said they heard four or five explosions near the palace.
The reported strike comes amid a sharp escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, which backs government forces in Yemen’s civil war. Saudi Arabia’s coalition said Houthi attacks this month included 20 strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, killing 17 people and injuring 333, and attacks on Abha airport that killed three and wounded 28. Yemen’s conflict began after the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014; a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major fighting, but efforts towards a lasting settlement have stalled.
- Missiles were fired at a presidential palace complex in Aden.
- Yemen’s prime minister and cabinet ministers were reported safe.
- The strike comes amid renewed Houthi-Saudi escalation.
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Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthi movement took control of the capital, Sanaa, and fighting broke out with forces supporting the internationally recognised government. Saudi Arabia has backed the government and led a coalition involved in the conflict.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely stopped major fighting, but it did not produce a lasting political settlement. The Presidential Leadership Council is the body leading Yemen’s government; its chairman is based at al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, in the south.
The conflict has drawn in regional powers and has affected civilians across Yemen and beyond its borders. Renewed attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia risk further widening tensions and making a political settlement harder to reach.
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The case for
The Houthis and their supporters could argue that attacks on Saudi-backed authorities are part of a wider conflict in which Saudi Arabia has intervened militarily and continues to support one side in Yemen’s civil war. They may frame pressure on the government and its backers as a way to resist that intervention and gain leverage in stalled negotiations.
The case against
Critics could argue that striking a palace complex where senior civilian leaders reside risks civilian lives and undermines prospects for a settlement. They would also point to the reported attacks on airports, which killed and injured civilians, as evidence that such escalation imposes serious costs on people with no role in the conflict.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Houthis fire ‘several missiles’ at presidential palace complex in Yemen”.