According to Dawn, Houthi forces on Thursday struck the Al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden, the seat of Yemen's Saudi-backed government. Yemeni government sources said at least four people were killed and 10 wounded; officials told Reuters two guards were among the dead. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the prime minister and cabinet were safe after an attack involving five missiles and drones.
It was the first attack on the complex since Yemen's war flared again in July after the collapse of a 2022 UN-brokered truce. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the group had hit a Saudi military operations headquarters and weapons depots inside the palace.
Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in Riyadh that the Houthis had obtained advanced weapons through unidentified regional actors, including ballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones and explosive-laden boats. Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy Rayed Krimly separately blamed Iran for arming, training and supporting the Houthis in violation of UN resolutions and for encouraging the latest escalation; he said the Houthis had refused Muscat talks.
Al-Malki said the Houthis had launched 20 attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport in October alone, killing 17 and wounding 333. The coalition also said it intercepted drones toward the south and Khamis Mushait and claimed to destroy a cruise missile in the Madina region; the Houthis denied targeting Madina.
At the UN Security Council, Pakistan's Ambassador Usman Jadoon strongly condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian and economic infrastructure, demanded an immediate end to the strikes, backed the UN envoy's dialogue efforts and reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's right to self-defence. More on Dawn.