5 killed in Houthi attack on presidential palace in Aden

Yemen's government said Thursday that five people were killed and 16 others wounded in an attack launched by the Houthi group on the presidential palace compound in the southern port city of Aden earlier in the day, reported Xinhua.

In a statement, Minister of Public Health and Population Qassem Buhaibeh condemned the attack and said those killed and wounded included security guards and civilian employees working at the Al-Ma'ashiq Presidential Palace compound, the temporary seat of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Earlier on Thursday, a local security official told Xinhua that five missiles had struck the presidential palace compound, while another attack targeted the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Aden's Al Buraiqa district.

The Houthi group later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted a "Saudi military operations headquarters" inside the presidential palace compound.

Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, citing a Houthi military leader, claimed that Saudi military officers were killed or wounded in the strike and weapons depots belonging to Saudi forces targeted.

Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-led coalition have not commented on the claim.

Thursday's strikes marked a further escalation in the confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with the two sides trading intensified strikes in recent days.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government out of the capital.