At least five people have been killed in the vicinity of the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Yemen’s port city of Aden after Houthi missile strikes.

The Yemeni health minister says five people were killed and 16 others injured in the Houthi missile attack that targeted the al-Maashiq Presidential Palace in Yemen’s Aden on Thursday.

The Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said in a social media post on Thursday that Houthis had targeted the al-Maashiq presidential palace with five missiles.

The government says the prime minister and other officials are safe, but two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the vicinity of the palace.

Al Jazeera correspondents reported earlier on Thursday that there were explosions near the palace.

The palace is considered the headquarters and the seat of power for the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa, said the attacks on the headquarters of the internationally recognised government are the “first of their kind” by the Houthis.

“This is an indication that the escalation is going to intensify between both sides,” Mawry said, adding that fears are now growing inside the country of “an all-out civil war” that could potentially drag in other regional powers besides Saudi Arabia.

The attack in Aden came as fighting between the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), and Saudi-backed forces intensified in Taiz, which is effectively under siege by the Houthis.

Controlling Taiz, Yemen’s third city and the broader Taiz governorate, in the southwest of the country would ensure control over the critical Bab al-Mandeb strait for either side.

Forces allied with the Yemeni government said they are repelling a Houthi attack on Dhubab airport.

The pro-government Homeland Shield Force said in a statement that they are, along with the Southern Giants Brigades, securing the airport in the coastal city of Dhubab in Taiz governorate.

Aid agencies say the escalating violence in Taiz is pushing the healthcare system towards breaking point.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Public Health warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe” there.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition says Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport has come under at least 20 Houthi attacks over the past 11 days with dozens of other airports, oil facilities and ports also targeted.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the alliance, released footage showing strikes on the main airport with passengers seen fleeing for safety, during a news conference in the Saudi capital.

The coalition says the Houthi attacks have killed 17 people and injured more than 300.

Al-Maliki also accused the Houthis of obtaining ballistic missiles from other countries in the region.

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the Saudi-led coalition’s news conference was intended as a response “to some of the, perhaps, military and security failures”.

“There’s kind of an image problem there because this is maybe affecting the perception of Saudi deterrence, the fact that missiles are getting through,” he told Al Jazeera.

Elmasry said the Houthis also have an image crisis, with the global community viewing their actions as “reprehensible, in particular these targeting civilian infrastructure”. (Al Jazeera)

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Three civilians have been killed and 36 injured in Houthi-claimed attacks on two airports in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh were targeted in two separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The attack on Abha International Airport killed two female residents, a Moroccan and an Algerian, and injured 28 others, GACA reported.

The attack on King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh killed a Sudanese citizen and injured eight residents, including five Saudi citizens.

GACA said it is working “in full integration and continuous coordination with the relevant security authorities” to assess the damage and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of passengers and workers.

The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, said forces intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh and destroyed a platform in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, that had been used to launch attacks on the Saudi capital.

Previous attacks on Saudi airports

New cage-like fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport.

On September 18, Saudi-led coalition forces said they intercepted and destroyed a suspected Houthi ballistic missile fired towards the airport in Riyadh from Yemen.

A day later, on September 19, at least one explosion was heard near the airport in Riyadh, and a large plume of black smoke was seen rising from a fuel storage area at King Khalid International Airport.

Saudi-backed Yemeni forces from the country’s internationally recognised government are locked in escalating combat with Iran-aligned Houthi forces who seized a broad swathe of territory astride the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government said the Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones against Aden airport early on Wednesday. No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, the United States embassy in Riyadh has issued another security alert for Americans in Saudi Arabia due to the ongoing security situation, reminding “all US citizens to exercise heightened vigilance”. (Al Jazeera)

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Saudi Arabia has said that a drone launched by the Houthis towards Mecca has been intercepted and destroyed, in an escalation that could threaten the holy city.

The Saudi-led coalition spokesperson, Turki al-Maliki, said Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted the hostile drone before it entered the restricted airspace on Tuesday evening.

Al-Maliki condemned the incident as an attempt to frighten worshippers and harm civilians, warning that the security of the two holy mosques and pilgrims is a “red line”.

The Houthis have previously denied targeting Mecca, saying that they do not target holy sites.

Security alerts

Saudi Arabia issued a security alert on Tuesday in the holy city of Mecca for the first time since the Houthis last attempted to target the sacred area in 2017.

The alert of potential danger in Mecca was swiftly lifted after a few minutes. The same alert was activated for Taif and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city.

In a statement to Yemen’s SABA news agency on Tuesday, a Houthi military source strongly rejected the claim that Houthi forces pose a threat to the city of Mecca or other Islamic holy sites.

“We categorically deny that there is any threat from Yemen directed at the city of Mecca or any other holy sites,” the source said, condemning what he described as “misinformation”.

The latest attacks mark a sharp resurgence in a conflict dating to 2015, when Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen after the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government.

A UN-brokered truce in April 2022 largely halted Houthi attacks on Saudi territory, but hostilities have escalated again since the group declared a blockade on Saudi shipping in July and gained control of critical nodes on the country’s Bab al-Mandeb coastline.

In early September, the Iran-aligned group launched missiles and drones at sites across Saudi Arabia, marking a drastic escalation in the fighting. Riyadh has accused the Houthi rebels of launching attacks on civilian and economic sites in the kingdom.

The Saudi-led coalition said it will respond “firmly” to Houthi strikes on urban areas that injured 13 people in the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif on Tuesday.

Why is the alert on Mecca significant?

This was the first time in nearly a decade that a security alert had been activated in Mecca.

Mecca is home to the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site. Two billion Muslims around the world face the Kaaba during their daily prayers.

This year, Saudi Arabia welcomed around 1.7 million Muslims for the Hajj season in late May, while the country was vulnerable to direct strikes.

Hajj is considered one of the five pillars of Islam, necessary for Muslims to fulfil once in their lifetime.

Throughout the year, millions of pilgrims travel to Mecca to perform the optional Umrah pilgrimage.

Last autumn, Mecca welcomed more than 11.7 million pilgrims for Umrah between September and October 2025.

Hajj has only been restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Saudi Arabia barred foreign Muslims from performing the pilgrimage to help prevent the spread of the virus.

It remains to be seen if the attacks on Saudi Arabia will affect pilgrimage to Mecca. (Al Jazeera)

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At least three seafarers have been killed in a Houthi missile attack on a merchant ship with a crew of 20 members, including Sri Lankans, in the Gulf of Aden, it was reported.

According to foreign media, two Sri Lankan and one Nepalese armed guards were also reported to be on board the vessel. 

Al Jazeera reported that the Iran-aligned Yemeni group claimed responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, which set the Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze approximately 50 nautical miles (93km) off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden.

The US military’s Central Command reported “three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition” as well as “significant damage to the ship”.

Two aerial photos released by the US military showed the ship’s bridge and cargo on board ablaze.

The attack marks the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began attacks against shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes over Israel’s war on Gaza. (NewsWire)

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A Sri Lanka Navy warship is ready to depart to join the fight to protect the international sea lanes from the Yemen-backed Houthi rebels, Navy Media Spokesman Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya said. 

Speaking to NewsWire, Captain Wickramasuriya said the ship is to be deployed to protect the international waters covering the Red Sea, Arabic Sea, Gulf of Aden, and adjacent sea lanes used by merchant vessels. 

He further said that the Sri Lanka Navy warship is being deployed as per the presidential order, but an exact date of deployment is yet to be confirmed. 

Captain Wickramasuriya went on to say that initially one ship would be deployed as part of the Operation Prosperity Guardians, the Naval operation underway at the Red Sea and adjoining trade routes. 

“Discussions will be held and based on the warship’s capability it will be deployed to any one of the sea lanes requiring protection from the Houthi rebels,” he said. 

Captain Wickramasuriya also stated that the deployment of more ships or swapping of ships will take place based on the current requirements and economic situation of Sri Lanka, and a discussion on the matter. 

Stating that there is no additional cost for the deployment of the warship, he said the cost depends on the operation and is similar to the cost borne by Navy vessels engaged in drug prevention raids in the international waters of Southern Sri Lanka. 

Last week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka has decided to deploy a Navy Vessel at the Red Sea to prevent Houthi Rebels from attacking ships, blocking trade along the sea route. 

Addressing an event in Colombo on Wednesday (Jan 03), the President said Sri Lanka will deploy the Navy vessel at the Red Sea for a cost of Rs. 250 million every fortnight. 

Pointing out that prices of goods may increase due to the various wars underway, especially in Ukraine and Palestine, the President said ships have also stopped using the Red Sea route due to continuous attacks by the Houthi Rebels and the rerouting of these ships around South Africa will also indirectly increase prices of goods. 

According to foreign media, the Yemen-based militants have carried out at least 23 attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since Dec. 19.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have vowed to continue targeting vessels they consider linked to Israel and the situation in the strategically vital southern Red Sea is now at a stand-off. 

The Bab al-Mandab strait is a critical waterway through which almost 15% of global trade passes. If attacks continue, the fear is that fuel prices will rise and supply chains will be damaged. (NewsWire)

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