Five Killed in Houthi Strike on Aden Palace as Saudi Coalition Reports Cruise Missile Intercepted Near Medina, Houthis Deny It

Since Houthi strikes hit Saudi Aramco facilities earlier this week and the Saudi-backed Yemeni army launched its "Yemen's Dawn" offensive, the fighting has pushed into two new places: the Medina region of Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government's headquarters in Aden.

A cruise missile over Medina

The Saudi-led coalition said Thursday, Oct. 15, that it intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the Medina region. Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki announced it on X, and state media carried the statement. Medina is home to the Prophet's Mosque and is the second holiest city in Islam.

The coalition's statement did not say who fired the missile.

The Houthis answered within hours. Military spokesman Yahya Saree called the claim "a shameless and brazen lie" and said Yemeni forces carried out no operation against Saudi territory that day. The Houthis also say they have vowed to spare both Mecca and Medina. Saree repeated that position on Sunday.

The denial fits a pattern. The coalition accused the Houthis in mid-September of a drone attack on Mecca, and the Houthis rejected it. On Oct. 1 the coalition said a drone hit the Taibah electricity distribution station in Medina at 5:11 a.m. on a Tuesday, taking one transformer out of service. The station supplies power to the Prophet's Mosque. Major General Al-Malki said wreckage and an investigation confirmed Houthi involvement.

A Houthi military source called that accusation a "lie," which the Houthi-run Saba news agency carried. The source said it was meant to cover for Riyadh's failure to substantiate its Mecca claim.

Aden palace attack

The Houthis did claim another strike on Thursday: the Al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden. The compound is the headquarters of Yemen's internationally recognized government.

Yemen's Health Minister Qasim Mohammed Buhaibeh said five people died, including two members of Prime Minister Shaya Al-Zindani's security detail. Sixteen were injured. The dead and wounded included security personnel and civilian employees.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis fired at least five ballistic missiles. The Cabinet said the attack used both missiles and drones. The government said the prime minister and ministers are safe.

The Houthis said they targeted a Saudi military operations center inside the compound. Their statement described "the declared equation of targeting Saudi military build-ups wherever they may be."

The Cabinet said the strike would not stop its work or its campaign against the Houthis. "Yemen's future will not be held hostage by a militia that bears arms against its own people," it said.

Riyadh's airports under pressure

The Houthis again warned that Saudi airspace and airports are unsafe for all airlines. They promised more attacks on oil facilities and airports "deep inside Saudi Arabia." Saree claimed one missile scored a "precise and direct hit" on Riyadh's airport.

The coalition released footage of about 20 drone and missile attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh between Oct. 1 and Oct. 11. A strike on the airport this week was the kingdom's deadliest in years, according to Channel NewsAsia's account of the attacks.

The French government "strictly advised" its citizens on Wednesday against using King Khalid International Airport and the Jeddah and Dammam airports, all of which have come under Houthi attack. It also advised against travel to Riyadh.

The Houthis say Saudi Arabia carried out 65 airstrikes and missile attacks across Yemen in the previous 24 hours, including on Sanaa. That figure is their claim. Yemeni officials, for their part, have said coalition-backed forces recaptured several areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as fighting escalated along the western coast.

The Iran backdrop

The Yemen escalation is unfolding alongside the broader U.S.-Iran war. Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News that the White House and Pentagon have prepared plans to use a Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb on Iranian military sites if President Trump orders it. CNN first reported the plans.

A White House spokesperson said, "We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist." A Pentagon official said the department plans for "a wide range of operational scenarios." Last week Trump said the U.S. would not attack Iran before the midterm elections.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke Thursday with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. He urged Aoun not to return several hundred kilograms of explosives Lebanese authorities seized last week from Hezbollah, a State Department official told CBS News.

What is unresolved

The coalition has not said who launched the cruise missile over the Medina region or where it was fired from. The Houthis say they did not do it. The group is on record taking credit for strikes on airports, oil facilities and the Aden palace. That leaves the Houthis' denial of the Medina attacks as the central disputed question as they promise further strikes on Saudi airports.