Aden [Yemen], October 15 (ANI): Houthi forces on Thursday targeted Yemen's Al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden, killing two security guards and wounding six others.

According to Al Arabiya, Minister of Youth Nayef Saleh al-Bakri said that all cabinet ministers in Aden were unharmed in the attack and asserted that members of the government would not leave the city following the incident.

The attack comes amid escalating hostilities between the Houthi movement and Saudi Arabia, with the Yemeni group claiming to have carried out strikes on Saudi energy infrastructure and an international airport a day earlier.

On Wednesday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that the group had targeted Saudi Aramco facilities and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

In a statement posted on X, Saree said the operation was carried out in response to what the group described as Saudi aggression against Yemen.

The spokesperson claimed that the strikes targeted Aramco facilities in the Eastern Province, the Ras Tanura refinery and King Khalid International Airport. He alleged that the attacks caused destruction and fires at the targeted sites. These claims have not been independently verified.

Saree warned that Houthi operations against Saudi territory would continue in the coming days, with airports and oil installations remaining potential targets. He also urged international shipping companies, civilians and workers at the targeted facilities to stay away from the sites, declaring them "legitimate targets" for the group's armed forces.

The escalation follows a warning issued by the Saudi-led coalition on Tuesday directing civilians to evacuate the Yemeni Oil Company's Al-Sabahah Central Station in Houthi-controlled Sanaa ahead of a planned military operation.

Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki urged civilians to leave the premises for their safety and shared an illustrative map of the site on X.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles directed towards Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia and neutralised three unmanned aerial vehicles north of Riyadh. The Houthis separately claimed to have downed a Saudi reconnaissance aircraft. These claims have not been independently verified.

The latest developments have raised concerns over regional security, energy supplies and maritime trade routes, particularly the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a strategic passage for international shipping.

Yemen's conflict intensified in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognised government, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015 in support of the government. (ANI)