ADEN/RIYADH, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Two loud explosions rocked Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Friday as Houthi-fired missiles struck near the presidential palace, a local security official told Xinhua.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missiles struck the vicinity of Al-Ma'ashiq Palace in Aden's Crater district, where Yemen's internationally recognized government is based. Security forces were deployed around the area.
He added that air defenses were engaging drones over key government institutions in Aden following the missile strikes.
Casualties and damage were not immediately known.
Majid al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for the government forces, said in a statement posted on social media platform X that the Houthis had targeted both Aden International Airport and the presidential palace.
Al-Ma'ashiq Palace, a heavily guarded compound housing Yemen's government and secured by forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition, has repeatedly come under attack during the latest escalation. On Oct. 15, five missiles struck the compound, killing five people and wounding 16 others.
Aden International Airport has also come under repeated attacks in recent days. On Wednesday, explosions were reported near the airport after the Houthis warned people to evacuate the facility, claiming a Saudi military cargo aircraft there was transporting weapons.
On Friday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement posted on X that Saudi forces had carried out 93 air and missile strikes over the past 24 hours in Sanaa and several Yemeni provinces. The figures could not be independently verified.
Also on Friday, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported that seven people were killed and a child was wounded in Saudi airstrikes on residential houses in Yemen's southwestern province of Taiz.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition announced in separate statements that it had intercepted and destroyed three drones and two missiles targeting different regions of the kingdom, including the Saudi capital Riyadh and the regions of Mecca and Medina.
Sarea denied carrying out any attack deep inside Saudi Arabia, disputing Saudi claims that drones had been intercepted over both Mecca and Medina. Sarea said the Houthis had "not carried out any operation toward the Saudi interior" and described the reported interception as a "fabricated claim," without providing further evidence.
Recent weeks have seen escalating cross-border hostilities between the two sides, with Saudi strikes hitting Houthi-held areas in Yemen and the Houthis launching missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government. ■
