ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday it had launched a ballistic missile at a military target near Aden International Airport in the southern port city of Aden, where a powerful explosion shook surrounding neighborhoods, with no casualties immediately reported.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement posted on social media platform X that the missile targeted what he described as a "Saudi military operations room" at Badr military base in Aden, claiming the strike was "direct and precise."
A local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Xinhua that a ballistic missile had struck the vicinity of Aden International Airport, but said the exact target and extent of any damage remained unclear.
The explosion rocked parts of Aden, the temporary seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government, while smoke was seen rising from an area near the airport, according to a Xinhua reporter on the ground and local residents.
The blast caused panic among residents around the airport in the city's populated Khormaksar district that houses Aden International Airport and Badr military base, a key military facility used by the government forces backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.
Wednesday's strike came five days after two Houthi ballistic missiles landed inside the grounds of Aden International Airport on Oct. 16, while a third struck a military base near the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Al Buraiqa district in western Aden.
A day earlier, on Oct. 15, missiles struck the Al-Ma'ashiq Presidential Palace compound in Aden, killing five people and wounding 16 others, according to the Yemeni government. The Houthi group later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted a Saudi military operations headquarters inside the compound.
The latest attack comes amid intensified fighting between the Houthi group and government forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition, alongside an escalating exchange of missile, drone and air strikes between the Houthi group and Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. ■
