SANAA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday that a number of Saudi military officers were killed or wounded in a strike on what it described as their "military operations headquarters" in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.
Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, citing a military leader within the group, said the attack targeted a "military operations headquarters run by Saudi officers" inside the Al-Ma'ashiq Presidential Palace compound in Aden, as well as "weapons depots" belonging to Saudi forces.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia or the Saudi-led coalition on the claim, which came after two waves of missile attacks hit Aden earlier Thursday.
A local security official told Xinhua that five missiles struck the presidential palace, killing four soldiers and wounding several others, while another attack targeted the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Al Buraiqa district.
The official had earlier said that Saudi military officers were in the palace area at the time of the attack but were unharmed.
Loud explosions rocked Aden during the attacks, with smoke rising from the vicinity of the presidential palace, according to a Xinhua reporter on the ground.
Local sources said "high-level meetings" had recently been held at the presidential palace to prepare government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition for fighting the Houthis.
Thursday's attacks 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 internationally recognized government out of the capital. The government is now based in Aden and backed by the Saudi-led coalition. ■
