Houthi missiles hit Aden palace, and the prime minister calls it "cowardly"

Houthi missiles struck the presidential palace complex in Aden on Thursday, October 15, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government, and officials reported at least two people killed ^[1][2][3].

The Houthis, the movement that took Sanaa in 2014, claimed responsibility ^[2][3]. Their military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said the group hit the "Saudi enemy's military operations headquarters in Aden" ^[2]. The Yemeni government says the compound, which includes Al-Maashiq Palace, is where it works, and calls Aden the hub of its state institutions ^[1][3].

The story is still developing. The number of dead has changed with each account, and the Houthi description of the target has not been independently verified.

What was seen and heard

Witnesses reported at least six explosions near the palace complex, and an AFP journalist saw smoke rising ^[1][4]. Residents fled in panic, according to AFP and France 24 ^[1][4]. The strike was described as a rare attack on the palace area ^[1].

Yemen's information minister, Moammar al-Eryani, said five ballistic missiles hit Al-Maashiq Palace ^[2][3]. The government said the Houthis used missiles and drones ^[1][3].

The Houthi-run Saba News Agency gave the rebel version in more detail. It said the target was a military operations headquarters at the palace, allegedly run by Saudi officers, along with associated weapons depots, and quoted a military source as saying the headquarters had been hit ^[3]. Sarea was also quoted as saying the attack targeted Saudi troop concentrations ^[2][3].

Three tolls

The casualty figures do not agree. An official who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press said at least two people were killed and six wounded ^[1][4]. Yemeni government military sources told AFP that at least four were killed and 10 wounded ^[1].

France 24 later reported a higher figure, attributed to Yemen's health minister: five killed and 16 wounded. It noted that the earlier estimate had been two dead and six wounded ^[4].

The government's own statement said the attack caused deaths and injuries among security personnel ^[3]. It has not said whether everyone hit was a member of the security forces.

The fate of the government's leadership matters as much as the toll. Al-Eryani told the BBC that the prime minister and other ministers were unharmed ^[2].

The Guardian said it had no immediate confirmation of a report that Prime Minister Shaya Zindani was at the palace when it was hit ^[1]. Whether he was inside the compound that day is not established.

A war that never fully stopped

The Houthis took Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to back the government, which has since had its seat in Aden ^[2][3]. For roughly four years an informal ceasefire held, and it began to unravel in July 2026, when the Houthis announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia and resumed missile and drone attacks ^[2][3].

The Houthis have since attacked Saudi airports, oil and gas facilities and military bases ^[1][2][4]. In September, the BBC reported, Houthi forces seized part of Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab strait. Pro-government forces then launched a counter-offensive with Saudi air support ^[2].

The Saudi-led coalition continues to provide air support for pro-government forces ^[2]. The Houthis say the strike was aimed at that Saudi presence. Their account of the target has not been independently verified, and no confirmation of such a headquarters, or of any losses among Saudi personnel, has been reported so far.

The strike lands at the place the government itself calls the hub of its state institutions ^[3]. That makes it different in kind from an attack on an airport or a gas facility. It is an attack on the offices from which the government says it carries on its work.

The wider fight

The Guardian places the attack inside a broader regional escalation and says it has complicated efforts to end the wider Iran war ^[1]. Another incident the same day shows how crowded the picture is. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a cruise missile over Medina on October 15, and the Houthi military spokesman denied the group carried out that attack ^[1][2][4].

Prime Minister Zindani condemned the palace strike as "cowardly" and a "continuation of their criminal behaviour" ^[2]. He said the government would keep carrying out its duties and that the attack would not weaken the resolve of its forces ^[2]. The Council of Ministers said the same, that the attack would not deter the government from its responsibilities ^[3].

No breakdown of the wounded from the health ministry has been published so far, and no independent monitor has verified the weapons, the target or the damage. The next test is whether the government's health ministry issues a fuller count that settles whether two, four or five people died.