Houthis strike Yemen presidential complex as Saudi Arabia intercepts missile

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile attack on the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing two security guards, according to Yemeni government officials. Prime Minister and cabinet members present at the complex remained unharmed.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis fired five missiles at the Maashiq presidential palace complex. The attack raised fresh security concerns as fighting continued across parts of Yemen and tensions spread towards neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi-run Saba News Agency reported that the group had targeted a military operations headquarters operated by Saudi officers inside the complex, along with weapons depots. The agency cited a military official for the information. However, the claims could not be independently verified.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the operation targeted what he described as a Saudi military headquarters in Aden. He linked the strike to the group’s stated policy of targeting Saudi military deployments.

Three witnesses told Reuters they had heard loud explosions near the presidential complex. The attack came amid continued hostilities between the Houthis and forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced that it had intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the Madinah region in western Saudi Arabia. Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki confirmed the interception in a statement posted on social media.

The coalition did not identify the missile’s launch location or intended target. It also provided no immediate information about casualties or damage.

The announcement came amid heightened tensions following previous missile and drone attacks attributed to the Houthis. Saudi officials had earlier accused the group of targeting the Taibah electricity distribution station in Madinah on September 29. The reported attack damaged a transformer but did not disrupt the wider electricity grid. The facility supplies power to the Prophet’s Mosque.

The Houthis denied responsibility for any operation targeting Saudi territory on Thursday. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree rejected the Saudi announcement, describing the allegation of an attempted attack on Madinah as false.

Separately, Yemen’s army said it had repelled a Houthi assault on Jabal Han, a strategically important mountain west of Taiz city in southwestern Yemen.

Colonel Abdul Basit al-Bahr, deputy head of the Moral Guidance Department at the Taiz Military Axis, said government forces had resisted the assault following several hours of intense fighting. He accused the Houthis of using artillery and heavy weapons against military positions and residential neighbourhoods along the western front.

The army did not disclose casualty figures or details of the damage caused by the fighting.

Al-Jumhuriya Channel separately reported that airstrikes had destroyed Houthi communications towers in the Bani Bakkari area of Jabal Habashi district in Taiz governorate. The group had not immediately commented on the report.

Jabal Han holds strategic importance because it overlooks the Al-Dhabab road, a key route connecting Taiz with Lahj governorate and, farther south, Aden, Yemen’s interim capital.

Yemeni human rights and humanitarian organisations have accused the Houthis of restricting access to government-controlled areas of Taiz and maintaining a siege on the city since 2015. They say the restrictions have obstructed humanitarian assistance and affected civilians. The Houthis deny the allegations.