Photo: Christina Hecker @ Deutsch-Jemenitische Gesellschaft / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired a volley of ballistic missiles at al-Maashiq presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday (October 15), striking at the seat of the country’s internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government. Officials first said two security personnel had been killed. Late on Thursday, Yemen’s health minister put the toll at five dead and 16 wounded.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said five missiles were aimed at the palace, which stands in Aden’s Crater district. He said Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and the other ministers present were not hurt. Witnesses described several loud blasts and smoke rising above the hill near the palace as residents ran from the area.
Houthis say they hit a ‘Saudi’ command centre
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed the group had struck what he called the military operations headquarters of the “Saudi enemy” in Aden. A local security official said a second wave of attacks targeted the headquarters of Saudi-led coalition forces in the city’s Al Buraiqa district.
Prime Minister Zindani called the attack “cowardly”. He said his government would keep working and that the strike would not weaken the resolve of its forces fighting the Houthis on the Red Sea coast and other front lines. Government-allied forces also said they were pushing back a Houthi assault on the airport at Dhubab, in Taiz governorate, near the Bab al-Mandab strait.
A war spreading across the region
Attacks on the palace in Aden, the government’s base since the Houthis took the capital Sanaa in 2014, are rare. The strike came on the same day the Saudi-led coalition said Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport had been hit at least 20 times between October 1 and 11. Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said Houthi attacks had killed 17 people and injured more than 300, and accused the group of getting ballistic missiles from other countries in the region.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy foreign minister, Rayed Krimly, accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to escalate. Iran has denied arming the group in the past and says it backs the Houthis only politically. A four-year informal truce began to break down in July. Fighting has grown since September, when the Houthis seized part of the south-western Red Sea coast. According to Yemen’s health ministry, at least 1,282 people have been killed and 5,890 injured since August 6, and the UN says about 2,01,000 people have been displaced.
India repeats its safety advice
On Thursday the Indian Embassy in Riyadh again told Indians in Saudi Arabia to follow the instructions of local authorities and stay indoors during any aerial attack. It warned that under local rules, filming or sharing material about missile and drone interceptions, or the places they hit, can lead to legal action.
- Of the Indians injured in the October 10 attack on Riyadh airport, two are still in intensive care, one is in a high-dependency unit and three are in a general ward. One more was discharged on Thursday.
- Flights at King Khalid International Airport remain suspended. Dammam, Jeddah and Medina airports are working, with some disruption.
- Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air and IndiGo have suspended flights to and from Saudi Arabia until October 17.
What happens next
Yemen’s government has vowed to press on with its offensive against the Houthis, who have said they will keep attacking Saudi targets. Travellers will be watching whether Indian airlines resume Saudi services after October 17 or extend the suspension, while the embassy has asked Indians in the kingdom to stay calm and keep in touch with their airlines before travelling.
