Houthis target Aden airport and presidential palace with ballistic missiles, Yemeni military says
Yemen's government forces say Houthi ballistic missiles targeted Aden's international airport and the Maashiq presidential palace on Friday, in the latest strikes on the seat of the internationally recognised government.
Yemen's government forces say the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Aden's international airport and the Maashiq presidential palace on Friday, in the latest attack on the southern port city that serves as the seat of the country's internationally recognised government.
The military spokesperson said the Houthi militia had targeted both sites with ballistic missiles, accusing the group of continuing to strike Yemen's national infrastructure and resources. The statement gave no details on casualties or damage, or on whether the missiles hit their intended targets.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency that they saw ambulances entering the presidential palace complex shortly after two blasts were heard in the city. The palace, a large compound of several buildings, houses Yemeni government facilities as well as sites linked to the Saudi-led coalition that backs the government.
Aden's international airport, currently Yemen's busiest airport, has borne the brunt of repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks in recent weeks. The facility was struck on Wednesday, October 28, after the Houthis called for its evacuation, and an earlier attack on October 7 saw a missile land near the runway shortly before a flight from Cairo was due to land, forcing the aircraft to divert to Jeddah.
Yemen's Transport Ministry has repeatedly warned that the strikes threaten civilian lives and the safety of air navigation, and the repeated attacks have forced airlines to cancel or delay flights and divert others to airports elsewhere in Yemen or abroad. The airport is a major gateway for southern Yemen and an important entry point for humanitarian workers, medical supplies and aid.
The latest strikes come after an earlier October missile attack on the Maashiq palace complex that killed and wounded several guards, and after a wave of attacks this month that residents say has shattered a period of relative calm in Aden. Yemen's second city suffered extensive destruction in 2015, when fighting between the Houthis and their opponents was accompanied by air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition.
The wider conflict has escalated sharply since Yemen's dormant civil war reignited in July, following the breakdown of a fragile truce established in 2022. On Friday, Yemeni government forces also said they had carried out 1,087 operations against Houthi positions under their Dawn of Yemen campaign, claiming to have neutralised about 336 militia leaders and fighters and destroyed or disabled 112 military vehicles and other assets. Those claims have not been independently verified.
The same day saw a parallel exchange of claims over Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone over the Medina region, after earlier interceptions over Riyadh and the south of the kingdom, while Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied that his forces had carried out any operation towards Saudi territory, calling the Medina claim a fabrication.
The United Nations Refugee Agency has said fighting in Yemen has displaced more than 280,000 people and left aid workers unable to reach some vulnerable communities, a reminder that the renewed fighting in and around Aden is unfolding against a deepening humanitarian crisis across the country.
For now, the scale of Friday's damage in Aden remains unclear, with no confirmed casualty figures and no statement on whether flights at the airport were suspended. What is clear is the pattern: Aden's airport and presidential palace, the two symbols of the internationally recognised government's presence in the south, are being hit again and again, and each strike raises fresh questions about how long the city can keep its airport open and its government functioning.
