The Houthi group fired nearly four ballistic missiles at Aden, Yemen's southern port city and seat of the internationally recognised government, on Saturday, 24 October, with strikes reported near Aden International Airport, key military facilities in the Khormaksar district, and the Coast Guard Troops headquarters in the Al-Tawahi district, according to a local security official. Loud explosions shook buildings across parts of the city, with plumes of smoke visible rising from the targeted areas. Casualties and damage were not immediately confirmed.

What the Strikes Hit

A local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missiles struck near Aden International Airport and key military installations in the Khormaksar district. A separate missile hit the Coast Guard Troops headquarters in Al-Tawahi district. Residents reported that the force of the blasts was felt across wide areas of the city, with visible smoke columns rising from impact zones.

The Saturday attack follows a ballistic missile strike on Wednesday in which the Houthis claimed to have hit a Saudi military operations room at Badr military base near Aden International Airport.

Pattern of Escalating Strikes on Aden

The latest salvo is part of a sustained Houthi campaign against Aden. Earlier in October, strikes hit the airport grounds, a military base in the Al-Buraiqa district, and the Al-Ma'ashiq Presidential Palace compound. The government stated that the 15 October attack on the palace compound killed five people and wounded 16 others — the most lethal single incident at the compound this month.

Notably, this marks at least the third major Houthi missile strike on Aden within the span of a single week, pointing to a sharp escalation in the group's offensive tempo against the internationally recognised government's stronghold in the south.

Frontline Situation and Coalition Response

On Tuesday, a military source with the Southern Giants Brigades said that government forces, backed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, had made 'little headway across several fronts' and had yet to achieve a major territorial breakthrough. 'The fighting is continuing, but significant gains have been limited to advances by our forces near Bab al-Mandeb,' the source said, referring to the strategic strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

Bab al-Mandeb's strategic importance — as a chokepoint for global shipping and energy flows — gives any military development there outsized geopolitical weight, particularly amid ongoing Houthi threats to commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea corridor.

Background: Yemen's Decade-Long Conflict

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. Despite intermittent ceasefires and diplomatic overtures, the conflict has defied resolution, leaving Yemen facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The renewed strikes on Aden signal that the military front remains active even as international attention has shifted to other theatres.

What to Watch Next

With Houthi strikes reaching the heart of the government's southern base in rapid succession, the pressure on the Saudi-led coalition to respond — diplomatically or militarily — is mounting. Any escalation near Bab al-Mandeb will be closely tracked by global shipping and energy markets. Official casualty figures and damage assessments from Saturday's attack are expected to emerge in the coming hours.