NewzADEN, Yemen (AP) — At least six explosions struck Thursday near the palace used by Yemen's internationally recognized government in the port city of Aden, witnesses said. An official said at least two people were killed, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen quickly claimed responsibility.It was a rare attack on the palace area, as fighting has escalated between the rebels and a Saudi-led coalition in the latest front in the Iran war. The explosions caused panic among residents, who fled the area.At least two people were killed and six wounded, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The government said the Houthis attacked with missiles and drones, the Aden-based SABA news agency reported.A security official said at least two explosions were on top of the hill near the Maashiq palace, and two others were near the security gate.Many of Yemen's government leaders are living in exile, and those in Aden were safe, a government official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.The Houthis said they attacked a military operations headquarters with the “Saudi enemy," part of their strategy of attacking Saudi targets that has included a series of attacks on airports and oil infrastructure inside the kingdom.The escalation has complicated efforts to end the wider Iran war and further rattled global markets as Saudi Arabia, one of the world's top oil exporters, faces repeated attacks. Regional aviation is affected, too, as the rebels have warned airlines about their use of Saudi airspace for attacks.
Thousands of flights across the kingdom have been disrupted.Houthis target Saudi areas againEarlier Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it intercepted a cruise missile over the province of Medina. Flightradar 24, a tracking platform, said dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed at Jeddah airport.The coalition statement did not assign blame for the attack. The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig.
Yahya Saree, denied the rebels carried it out. The group previously pledged not to attack airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabia also said it destroyed a drone over the country's Eastern province, a major oil-producing region, and intercepted a drone in Khamis… Saudi-led coalition command centre in Aden hit in alleged Houthi attack A missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden hit a command centre of the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen's Houthis, a Saudi-backed Yemeni government minister told AFP on condition of anonymity on Thursday.
The minister alleged that the Houthis launched three missiles at a Yemeni government command centre and two at the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces at the presidential complex, adding that there were Yemeni and Saudi casualties, without providing a specific toll. Earlier, the Yemeni government reported that four people were killed and 10 were injured in attacks on the presidential palace in Aden. A Yemeni minister told AFP that the country's president was present at the palace at the time of the attack, but was not hurt in the strike.
The Houthis launched a deadly missile attack on Thursday on the presidential palace in the Yemeni government’s interim capital of Aden, as Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the recent dramatic escalation in the long-running war. Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised government it backs in Yemen have come under sustained Houthi attack of late, shifting the focus of the wider Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. The Iran-backed Houthis have seized swathes...
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