ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group on Thursday claimed a strike on what it described as the "Saudi military operations headquarters" in the southern port city of Aden, shortly after missile attacks hit the presidential palace and another military site in the city, killing four soldiers.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement posted on social media platform X that the group's strike in Aden targeted the "Saudi military operations headquarters," without specifying its exact location. He said the attack was part of the group's declared policy of striking "Saudi military gatherings" wherever they were located.
Sarea said the group considered any Saudi military presence a "legitimate target," but gave no details about the weapons used, casualties or damage.
His statement followed two waves of attacks in Aden earlier Thursday. A local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that five missiles struck Al-Ma'ashiq Presidential Palace in the city's Crater district, while a second attack targeted the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Al Buraiqa district.
Four soldiers guarding the palace were killed and several others wounded, the security official said, adding that Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani, other ministers and Saudi military officers in the area were unharmed and preparing to leave Aden.
But a local medical official in Aden said the actual casualty toll was higher, but declined to give figures, saying he was "not authorized to disclose them."
Loud explosions rocked the city during the attacks, with smoke rising from the vicinity of the presidential palace, the seat of Yemen's government backed by the Saudi-led coalition, according to a Xinhua reporter on the ground.
"High-level meetings" had recently been held at the presidential palace to prepare government forces backed by the coalition for fighting against the Houthis, according to local sources.
Thursday's attacks marked a further escalation in the confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with the two sides trading missile and drone attacks and intensified airstrikes in recent days.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the internationally recognized government out of the capital. The government is now based in the southern port city of Aden and backed by the Saudi-led coalition. ■
