Sana’a, Oct 16. (dpa/GNA) – Yemen’s Information Ministry said on Thursday, that Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and members of the government were safe following a missile attack on al-Maashiq Palace in the southern port city of Aden.
The ministry said in a statement that the attack was carried out by the Houthi militia, and it killed two members of the prime minister’s security detail.
There was no immediate information on the extent of the damage. It was also unclear whether the palace building itself had been hit.
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack. The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency cited a military source as saying that the group’s forces had targeted a military operations centre inside the palace, allegedly run by Saudi officers, as well as nearby weapons depots.
Saudi media also reported that the Houthi militia had attacked the palace, which houses the Yemeni government headquarters in the city’s Crater district.
Earlier, eyewitnesses reported hearing five explosions in Aden and seeing plumes of smoke rising from the vicinity of the palace.
The internationally recognized government has been based in Aden in the south since Houthi rebels overran the capital Sana’a and other parts of northern Yemen in 2014.
The government is led by Rashad al-Alimi, who mostly stays in Riyadh for security reasons.
Saudi media reported that senior Yemeni government officials had not been injured in the attack. Aden is one of Yemen’s largest cities and has an important port east of the Bab al-Mandab (Gate of Tears) Strait.
For centuries, the city served as a trading hub. The palace sits on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Aden.
GNA