Yemen's Houthi movement fired five missiles at the al-Maashiq presidential palace complex in Aden on Thursday, October 15 — the first Houthi strike on the palace in the current phase of the conflict — killing five people and injuring 16, according to the Yemeni health minister. Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and his cabinet members survived; a minister told AFP the prime minister was inside the palace at the time and "was not harmed in any way."
What happened in Aden
Witnesses reported loud booms and plumes of smoke rising from the vicinity of the palace, the seat of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government. The Yemeni cabinet said the attack involved missiles and drones. The Hindu cited officials saying at least six explosions struck — two on the hilltop near the palace and two near the security gate. Earlier reports put the toll at two security guards killed; the health minister later updated it to five killed and 16 injured.
The Houthis' claim
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the strike hit "the Saudi enemy's military operations headquarters in Aden," part of the group's declared policy of targeting Saudi military build-ups "wherever they were located," calling any Saudi military presence a "legitimate target." The Houthi-run SABA news agency said the headquarters was run by Saudi officers and that weapons depots there were hit. Reuters said it could not independently verify these claims.
The coalition's response
Prime Minister al-Zindani condemned the attack as "cowardly" and "a continuation of their criminal behaviour," vowing operations against the Houthis would continue. Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki held a news conference in Riyadh the same day, saying Houthi forces had attacked Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport about 20 times in 11 days, alongside dozens of other strikes on airports, oil facilities, and ports — with total Houthi attacks killing 17 and injuring more than 300. He accused the Houthis of obtaining ballistic missiles and advanced technology "with the help of regional actors." The coalition also said it intercepted a cruise missile over the Madinah region on October 15 — a claim Saree rejected as false. A Saudi foreign ministry official said Riyadh had asked to meet the Houthis in Muscat, Oman, "a few weeks ago" and they refused.
Wider escalation
The strike comes days after a Houthi attack on Riyadh's international airport killed 13 and wounded around 300 — the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in a decade. The civil war reignited in July 2026 after a UN-brokered truce collapsed; in September the Houthis seized territory along the Red Sea coast, while government forces began recapturing ground near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last week. Aid agencies warn that Taiz, effectively under Houthi siege, faces a healthcare emergency. Analyst Mohamad Elmasry of the Doha Institute told Al Jazeera the coalition briefing responded to "military and security failures" and a dent in Saudi deterrence perception, while the Houthis face criticism over targeting civilian infrastructure.
Watch: Al Jazeera's report on the Aden palace missile attack and the fighting in Taiz
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Al Jazeera — reporting from Sanaa on the Aden palace strike
- Reuters — casualty reports and Houthi claims
- BBC — Prime Minister al-Zindani's response
- The Guardian — coalition headquarters strike reporting