Yemen's government says Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Aden airport and palace

The Houthi movement launched ballistic missiles at the airport in Aden and at the Maashiq presidential palace complex in the same city, according to a spokesperson for Yemen's internationally backed government. The Times of Israel reported the claim, citing the spokesperson for the government's armed forces, and noted that the statement offered no information on casualties, on damage, or on whether the missiles struck what they were aimed at.

The Israeli broadcaster N12 carried the same account through its Arab affairs desk. In a brief update, N12 attributed the report to a spokesperson for the Yemeni government and said the Houthis had targeted both the airport and the presidential compound in Aden using ballistic missiles. Neither outlet published independent confirmation of the strikes or their results.

Who the two sides are

Yemen has been divided for years between two main camps. The Houthis, a movement both reports describe as aligned with or backed by Iran, hold much of the country's north, including the capital, Sanaa. Opposing them is the government that is recognised internationally and supported by Saudi Arabia. Because it does not control Sanaa, that government has operated from Aden, a port city in the south of the country, which The Times of Israel referred to as its seat.

That makes the two sites named in the statement significant. The airport is one of the main gateways into government-held territory. Maashiq is the presidential palace complex associated with the government's leadership in Aden. An attack on both would be aimed at the physical centre of the administration that opposes the Houthis.

Not the first strike on the airport this week

The latest claim follows earlier fire on the same facility. A photograph published alongside The Times of Israel report, taken from AFPTV video and dated October 28, 2026, showed smoke rising after a missile hit Aden airport. The caption described that as the second time the airport had been targeted, and said the Houthis had called for the facility to be evacuated.

It is not clear from the material whether the attack described by the government spokesperson is a further strike or relates to those earlier incidents. The reports present it as a new statement, but they do not give a time for the missile launches.

A wider regional conflict

The Times of Israel placed the attack in the context of escalating fighting inside Yemen, which it said has been drawn into the broader conflict in the Middle East. The same live coverage noted that the United States had ordered non-emergency staff to leave Saudi Arabia, citing security risks. The reports do not draw a direct link between that decision and the strikes in Aden.

For readers following events from Israel, the Houthis are familiar as a force that has fired on targets well beyond Yemen's borders. Their capacity to launch ballistic missiles at a city in the south of their own country shows the reach they claim within Yemen as well.

How the reports differ

The two accounts agree on the core claim: ballistic missiles, fired by the Houthis, aimed at Aden's airport and the presidential complex. They differ slightly in who they cite. The Times of Israel attributes the statement to the spokesperson of the government's armed forces, while N12 describes the source as a spokesperson for the Yemeni government. The Times of Israel also names the palace as Maashiq, a detail N12 does not include. Both rely on the same side of the conflict for their information.

What the reports do not say

The statement as reported leaves most of the basic questions open. It does not say whether anyone was killed or injured, whether either site was damaged, or whether the missiles reached their targets or were intercepted. It does not say how many missiles were fired or exactly when.

Neither report includes a response from the Houthis, either confirming or denying the attack, and neither contains comment from Saudi Arabia or any other government. There is no information on whether flights at Aden airport were affected, or on whether the evacuation call mentioned in the earlier photo caption was carried out. All of the claims about this attack currently come from one party to the conflict, and they have not been independently verified.