Daijiworld Media Network - Aden
Aden, Oct 15: Five missiles targeted Al-Ma'ashiq Palace, which houses Yemen's government backed by the Saudi-led coalition, in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, a local security official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the missiles struck the vicinity of the palace in Aden's Crater district and blamed the attack on the Houthi group. Casualties and the extent of the damage remained unclear, the official added.
Loud explosions rocked Aden as smoke rose from the vicinity of the palace, according to a Xinhua reporter at the scene. Residents living nearby said the blasts shook their houses.
Meanwhile, the Houthi group on Thursday renewed its warning to international airlines that Saudi airspace and airports were “unsafe”, Xinhua News Agency reported.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the warning covered Saudi airspace and airports, except for the airspace over the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Earlier in the day, Saree said in a separate statement that the Houthis had not launched any attack towards Saudi territory, rejecting a Saudi allegation that an attack had been directed towards Medina.
On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it would issue a warning for civilians to evacuate a site in the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, ahead of a “special operation”.
Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki announced on X that the warning would be issued shortly, but did not provide further details about the site or the planned operation.
Also on Tuesday, the coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed three drones north of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The latest developments come amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with both sides exchanging attacks and military warnings in recent days.
Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and large parts of northern Yemen, forcing the internationally recognised government out of the city. The government is now based in the southern port city of Aden and is backed by the Saudi-led coalition.