The latest:
Five people were killed and 16 wounded when missiles and drones struck the Maashiq presidential palace complex in Aden on Thursday, Yemen’s health minister Qassem Buhaibeh said, in the first such attack on the seat of the internationally recognized government. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the prime minister and cabinet members were unharmed. The Houthis claimed responsibility within hours.
Details:
- The casualties: Health Minister Qassem Buhaibeh said five people were killed and 16 wounded in what he described as a Houthi attack on the government’s official headquarters inside the presidential compound, with guards and civilian staff among the victims. A Yemeni official speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity gave a lower toll of at least two killed and six wounded.
- The weapons: The Yemeni government said the attack used both missiles and drones, according to the Aden-based Saba news agency. Witnesses told Reuters they heard loud explosions near the palace, and the Associated Press reported witness accounts of at least six blasts in the area.
- Where they landed: A security official told the Associated Press that at least two explosions struck the hillside near Maashiq palace, with two more close to the security gate. Video circulating on social media and analyzed by the Associated Press showed smoke rising from the area around the palace.
- The Houthi account: Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said fighters shelled what he called the Saudi military operations headquarters in Aden, under the group’s declared policy of targeting “Saudi reinforcements wherever they are.” Houthi-run media said the site is run by Saudi officers and houses weapons depots. Reuters said it could not independently verify those claims.
- Who was there: A government official told the Associated Press that many Yemeni leaders live abroad in exile and that those present in Aden were safe. Both officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the press. Officials did not say which buildings inside the compound were damaged.
- The panic: The explosions sent residents fleeing the area surrounding the palace, the Associated Press reported, citing witnesses. Strikes on the palace district are rare, even as fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces has intensified since resuming last month.
- The front line: Government forces launched an offensive last week to retake Houthi-held areas and recovered ground near the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key shipping artery. Relief agencies have warned that conditions across Yemen are deteriorating rapidly as the fighting spreads.
- The toll elsewhere: The Saudi-backed health ministry said at a late-night news conference in Taiz that 120 people had been killed and 307 wounded in the fighting through October 5, with most deaths in Taiz, Saada and al-Jawf. The World Food Programme said it can no longer reach more than 600,000 aid-dependent people in Taiz.
Background:
The war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and the government retreated south. A Saudi-led intervention the following year produced a stalemate until a 2022 truce, which held until this year. Houthi-aligned fighters briefly took Maashiq palace during an earlier battle for Aden.
Between the lines:
The symbolism is heavier than the damage. Maashiq is where the recognized government physically governs, and much of its leadership lives abroad — a strike there tests whether Aden remains a safe seat at all. The Houthi framing, calling the compound a Saudi operations headquarters rather than a Yemeni palace, recasts the government as a foreign military target, a claim Reuters said it could not verify.
What’s next
Watch whether the government relocates cabinet operations out of the compound, whether its Bab al-Mandab offensive continues after the strike, and whether the World Food Programme regains access to Taiz.
