Yemen’s internationally recognised government says the Houthis have launched missiles at the airport in Aden, a day after carrying out a deadly attack targeting the presidential palace in the port city.

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said two missiles landed near the runway at Aden International Airport on Friday, 500 metres (1,640 feet) from an aircraft that was preparing to take off.

All passengers and crew were safe, he said on X, thanking “divine providence” for preventing a potential “horrific humanitarian catastrophe” and calling the attacks on the airport “a grave violation of international laws and norms”.

The Houthis, in a statement attributed to a military source, said on Friday that they launched an attack on “the Saudi forces’ command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province” as well as a weapons depot, the AFP news agency reported.

The latest attack in Aden, which is the seat of the internationally recognised government, comes amid continued heavy fighting in Yemen’s reignited civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.

Yemeni government forces said earlier on Friday that troops had advanced in Marib province northeast of Sanaa.

Military spokesman Majed al-Nazili said Yemeni government forces, with air support, had made significant “territorial gains” in the eastern part of the province, securing “key positions”.

He also said Yemeni forces had “neutralised” more than 430 Houthi fighters in 24 hours, while destroying or disabling more than 100 of their vehicles and military assets.

Elsewhere, in Taiz governorate, which has emerged as a key battlefront in the war, Yemeni government forces claimed to have fended off several “large-scale” Houthi attacks, inflicting “heavy losses” on the group.

Yemeni government forces also claimed to have captured a specialised drone team affiliated with the Houthis in the Taiz area.

In recent weeks, Houthi forces have encircled the city of Taiz — Yemen’s third largest urban centre — by ⁠cutting its main road south to Aden, causing widespread ⁠displacement and worsening a humanitarian crisis.

Missiles over Riyadh

Elsewhere on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it had downed missiles and drones over Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of encouraging Houthi attacks against the kingdom, including by arming and training the group.

But Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday rejected the accusation, saying Tehran had not played a role in any Houthi operations. The ministry also reiterated a proposal to mediate between the Houthis and Riyadh.

The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced the government to flee.

An international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the internationally recognised government in 2015, leading to years of fighting between the warring sides.

A 2022 UN-backed truce halted most fighting, but tensions have been high in Yemen since the Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in July.

In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s government from the Red Sea port city.

The same month, the group’s forces again swept through and seized territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, including the strategically located Mayyun Island in the strait. (Al Jazeera)

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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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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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Dozens of people were killed in a crowd surge in Yemen’s capital on Wednesday as needy residents in the war-torn nation flocked to receive charity handouts from local merchants during the holy month of Ramadan, officials have confirmed.

According to CNN, a video of the tragedy in Sanaa showed a chaotic scene with dozens of people packed tightly together, unable to move and shouting for help.

Those trapped formed a tangled wall of bodies with some desperately stretching out their arms for help. A couple of men who were freed could then be seen attempting to pull others out of the deadly crush. Images from the aftermath showed shoes and slippers heaped into piles as well as scarfs strewn on the floor.

“What happened tonight is a tragic and painful accident, as dozens of people were killed due to a large stampede of a number of citizens caused by a random distribution of sums of money by some merchants and without coordination with the Ministry of Interior,” the spokesman of the Houthi-run Ministry of Interior, Abdul-Khaleq al-Ajri, said in the statement.

At least 78 people were killed in the crush and dozens injured, Mutahar al-Marouni, the director of the Houthi-run Health office in Sanaa, told the Houthi-run Al-Masirah news agency.

According to Reuters, hundreds of people had crowded into a school to receive donations of 5,000 Yemeni Riyal (about $9).

The incident came just a few days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During this time of the month, people start giving away Zakat al-Fitr, or the Zakat of Breaking the Fast of Ramadan, to people who are in need.

Naseh Shaker, a journalist who was at the scene, told CNN there was a “very long line of people” gathered at the entrance to the school, which was being used for distributing food and financial aid. They had begun queuing after sunset with the hopes of receiving the donation, he said.

When officials in charge of the distribution arrived and opened the door, “a lot of people rushed into the school.”

“This is a disaster to find people sacrificed their lives for just 10 dollars,” Shaker said. “People are very hungry people are very poor.”

Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene, according to the Interior Ministry statement.

“The dead and injured people were transferred to hospitals, and two merchants in charge of the matter were arrested,” the statement added.

The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, ordered an investigation into the incident on Thursday.

The Houthi-run General Authority for Zakat announced in a statement it would give one million Yemeni Riyal ( about $4,000) to each family of the crowd surge victims.

It also said it would take care of the treatment of those injured and pay 200,000 Yemeni Riyal (about $800) to each injured person. (CNN)

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