The Iranian-backed Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for followers of God), fired missiles at the presidential palace in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people and injuring 16 others.
Two missiles landed on the grounds of Aden International Airport on Friday as an airliner prepared to take off for Cairo.
After the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, Yemen’s internationally recognized government decamped to Aden with the support of a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia.
The latest attacks come as the war in Yemen, largely frozen by a 2022 truce, has restarted and become another front in the broader regional conflict involving Iran.
So what happened in Aden, and why does it matter?
Here’s what you need to know:
What happened at Maashiq Palace?
The Houthis hit the Al-Maashiq presidential palace with five missiles, according to Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani.
Health Minister Qasem Buhaibeh said the dead and injured included guards and civilian employees.
The government said Prime Minister Shaya al Zindani and other officials were safe, but that two of his bodyguards were killed.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group struck what he called the “Saudi military operations headquarters” in Aden.
What happened at the airport?
On Friday, two missiles landed on the airport grounds, according to Aden’s security department, which blamed the Houthis. This is the second attack on the establishment in less than a week.
Yemenia Flight 612 to Cairo was preparing for takeoff. Al-Eryani said the missiles landed about 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the plane. No casualties have been reported.
Al-Eryani called the strike “a direct threat to the lives of passengers and crew.”
The Houthi-run Saba Agency said the group was targeting a military headquarters and weapons depots inside Camp Badr, a military site next to the airport.
Why are the attacks on Aden important?
Aden is the interim capital of Yemen.
The government moved there after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, by force in 2014 and later imposed their own government.
The al-Maashiq Palace is the internationally recognized seat of government and seat of power.
The Houthis currently control much of the north and west of the country. Fighting between the Houthis and a Saudi coalition supporting the government had largely ended after a 2022 ceasefire.
But in September, the Houthis launched a lightning offensive along the Red Sea coast, seizing territory overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea. Nearly two weeks ago, government forces launched a counter-offensive dubbed “Operation Yemen Dawn” with Saudi air support, but have so far failed to reverse that progress.
Saree said the Houthi attacks on Aden were part of the group’s stated policy of targeting “Saudi reinforcements wherever they are.”
The city has already been hit.
In December 2020, an attack on Aden airport as a new government arrived from Saudi Arabia killed at least 22 people.
A second attack hit the palace where the ministers had been taken to safety. The coalition blamed the Houthis, who denied responsibility.
What reaction was there?
On Thursday, Rayed Krimly, Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister of public diplomacy, accused Iran of “encouraging” the escalation.
He said the Iran-backed Houthis had rejected an offer to meet for negotiations in Oman when the latest round of hostilities began.
Tehran denied this assertion on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any assertion that Iran played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Baghaei said Iran “has always been ready to use its good offices to help end hostilities,” again offering mediation.
The Canadian Embassy in Saudi Arabia condemned the attack on the palace and called for “an immediate de-escalation of hostilities.”
“We stand in solidarity with the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Yemeni people,” the Canadian embassy in Saudi Arabia said in a message on X.
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned the escalation of Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, including those affecting civil aviation and energy infrastructure.
The board of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization also condemned recent attacks on airports and civilian aircraft in Saudi Arabia.
On October 9, Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, told the UN Security Council that the country had fallen back into “full-scale war.”
What is happening in the wider conflict?
Fighting resumed in July, ending a 2022 truce.
Last month, the Houthis took control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important waterways. Since the Strait of Hormuz was closed by Iran in March following US strikes, Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on sending its oil exports to the Red Sea via its East-West pipeline. The Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ships earlier this year.
On October 4, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, announced Operation Yemen Dawn aimed at retaking territory held by the Houthis, including Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition said 100 warplanes took part, its first acknowledgment since 2022 of renewed air attacks against the Houthis.
The Houthis, in turn, have repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Saudi airports, oil facilities and other infrastructure.
On Friday, the coalition announced it had intercepted a ballistic missile heading for Yanbu, a Red Sea oil hub that Saudi Arabia uses to export crude.
On the ground, fighting has intensified in Taiz governorate, where the Houthis are besieging the city of Taiz and which borders the Red Sea. State media outlet Saba, citing the Taiz Axis military command, reported that 168 Houthi fighters were killed there and 210 wounded.
In Houthi-controlled areas, the Houthi-run health ministry said 124 civilians had been killed and 327 injured in what it called “Saudi aggression” since September 3.
Early Saturday, Houthi-affiliated media reported attacks east of Saada, with the coalition claiming to have destroyed two ballistic missile launchers there.
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