Houthis say Aden palace strike targeted Saudi military headquarters, warn of further attacks

Yemen’s Houthi movement said Thursday that its missile attack on the Ma’ashiq Presidential Palace in Aden targeted a Saudi military operations headquarters, warning that Saudi military personnel and facilities would remain targets wherever they are deployed.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the operation was consistent with the group’s declared policy of targeting Saudi military concentrations.

“The shelling of the Saudi enemy’s military operations headquarters in Aden is part of our declared strategy to strike Saudi military concentrations wherever they are located,” Saree said.

He added: “We consider any military presence of the Saudi enemy to be a legitimate target for our forces, wherever it may be.”

Earlier Thursday, a Houthi military source told the Sana’a-based Saba News Agency that the group had targeted a military operations center operated by Saudi officers inside the Ma’ashiq Palace complex and destroyed weapons depots. The claims regarding the military facility and weapons depots were not independently verified.

The internationally recognized Yemeni government confirmed that the presidential complex had been attacked, reporting casualties but saying that the prime minister and other government officials were unharmed.

Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani wrote on X that the Houthis had targeted the palace with five missiles.

“The Houthis targeted the Ma’ashiq Presidential Palace in the city of Aden with five missiles; the Prime Minister and all members of the government are safe,” he said.

Separately, Yemen’s Ministry of Information reported that preliminary information indicated that two members of Prime Minister Shayea al-Zandani’s security detail had been killed in the attack.

Video footage circulating after the strike showed black smoke rising from the palace complex.