Houthi Missiles Hit Yemen’s Presidential Palace as Saudi Air Defenses Struggle to Stop Attacks

Houthi missiles and drones struck the presidential palace complex in the Yemeni port city of Aden on Thursday, killing five people, as Saudi Arabia struggles to stop a week of strikes on its airports and oil sites that exposed gaps in its air defenses, officials and analysts said.

Yemen’s health minister, Qasim Buhaibeh, said 16 others were wounded. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis fired missiles at the Al-Maashiq complex, the seat of the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, and that Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and the cabinet were unharmed. Two of the prime minister’s bodyguards were among the dead. It was the first Houthi strike on the palace in the current round of fighting, which resumed last month.

Competing accounts of the target 

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group’s fighters targeted what he described as a Saudi military operations headquarters in Aden, calling the strike consistent with its declared policy of hitting Saudi forces wherever they are. The Houthi-run news agency added that Saudi officers command the site and that it holds weapons depots.

A Yemeni government minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave a different account. Two missiles hit the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces at the complex, the minister said, and three hit a command center for Yemeni government forces, causing Yemeni and Saudi casualties. The minister gave no toll. Neither version could be independently verified, and the government describes the complex as its official seat of power. 

A week of attacks on Saudi Arabia

Coalition spokesperson Col. Turki al-Maliki said the Houthis have attempted attacks on dozens of Saudi sites in recent weeks. He said 20 attacks hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, killing 17 people and wounding 333. An earlier strike on Abha airport killed two people and wounded 28. Saudi authorities put the toll from Saturday’s strike on the Riyadh airport at 12 dead, later raised to 13. On Tuesday, the Houthis targeted an administrative building belonging to Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, a Saudi energy ministry official told the state news agency.

Airlines including Air France-KLM, Air India, Etihad, Lufthansa, Delta, Gulf Air, and Qatar Airways suspended flights to Saudi Arabia. Organizers say the Future Investment Initiative, the kingdom’s flagship investment forum, goes ahead from Oct. 26 to 29, with remote participation available.

Why the attacks are getting through

Saudi Arabia pours tens of billions of dollars into defense each year and operates layered air defense systems bought from the United States and Europe. The kingdom shoots down many of the missiles and drones aimed at it, but airports, refineries, and pipelines still prove hard to shield.

The Houthis mix drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles of different speeds to confuse defenders. An initial Saudi inquiry found that the group first launched drones to clear a path for cruise and ballistic missiles that then reached Riyadh’s airport, two regional officials said on condition of anonymity. The weapons flew more than 1,000 kilometers, or 620 miles, and investigators want to know why defenses gave no earlier warning. The officials said the Houthis also have ballistic missiles with warheads that can change direction in flight, a challenge for the Patriot interceptors the kingdom relies on.

Analysts point to other weaknesses. Saudi missile defenses were built mainly to counter threats from Iran. The war involving Iran has drained regional stocks of interceptors, and the kingdom’s size makes it harder to defend than Israel or a single military base. One analyst notes the size of the Houthi arsenal is unknown, which limits their ability to launch mass barrages, so they may aim single missiles at less-defended civilian targets to disrupt air traffic.

Maliki says the Houthis acquired advanced technology with help from regional actors, including ballistic missiles, drones, and explosive-laden fast boats. Washington and Riyadh say Iran supplies the group with weapons, money, and training. Tehran denies arming the Houthis in breach of a United Nations arms embargo. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam rejects the idea that the group acts on Iran’s orders and says its demands center on humanitarian issues, including lifting limits on Yemeni ports and airports and paying civil servants’ salaries.

A war with deep roots

The war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and drove the government south. A Saudi-led intervention followed in 2015, when Houthi forces briefly seized the Al-Maashiq palace before withdrawing the next day. A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 largely held until this year. Fighting now rages in the besieged city of Taiz and along the Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Fighting spreads across Yemen

The palace strike came as the front lines moved well beyond the Saudi border. Yemeni government forces said the Houthis also fired several ballistic missiles at the central city of Marib, which sits in a strategic, oil-rich region. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted drones fired at the kingdom’s southern region and at the city of Khamis Mushait. Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the dramatic escalation, while Tehran denies arming the group. The truce collapsed, and the Houthis launched a lightning offensive in September, according to officials.

What to watch next

For now, the facts on the ground are still contested. The government, the coalition, and the Houthis give conflicting accounts of what the palace strike hit, and casualty figures on both sides keep changing. What is clear is that the war has moved from the front lines into Aden, the seat of the government, as well as Saudi airports and the kingdom’s energy sector, and that Riyadh’s air defenses have so far failed to stop the attacks.