Fighting revives Yemen's civil war

The escalation has brought war back to a country that had seen four years of relative quiet, with the fighting between the Iran-backed rebels and the Yemen-Saudi coalition intensifying across multiple fronts. Thursday's Houthi attack on Aden stood out because strikes on the palace area are rare, even in a conflict that has repeatedly spilled into new territory.

Several threads of the same escalation ran through the day:

• •A missile and drone strike on Yemen's presidential palace in Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government
• •A cruise missile intercepted over Saudi territory and drones downed elsewhere in the kingdom
• •Growing alarm over the Houthi-besieged city of Taiz, where aid agencies can no longer reach those in need

Explosions around the Maashiq palace

Witnesses in Aden reported at least six explosions near the palace compound on Thursday, a site that also houses the Saudi-led coalition. A security official said at least two blasts hit the hilltop near the Maashiq palace and two others struck close to the security gate. The government, cited by the Aden-based SABA news agency, said the Houthis attacked with missiles and drones, and the Iran-backed rebels, based in northern Yemen, quickly claimed responsibility. They said they had struck a military operations headquarters where the "Saudi enemy" was located.

Yemen's health minister put the toll at five dead and 16 wounded, revising an earlier count of two dead and six wounded given by an anonymous official. Residents fled the area in panic after the explosions. Government leaders in the city escaped harm, though many of Yemen's officials live in exile.

Saudi interceptions and disrupted flights

The same escalation reached inside Saudi Arabia earlier on Thursday. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a cruise missile over the province of Medina. The kingdom also reported destroying a drone over its eastern province, a major oil-producing region, and intercepting another in Khamis Mushait, a city near a major military air base.

The coalition did not blame anyone for the Medina incident, and Houthi military spokesperson Brigade General Yahya Saree denied the rebels were involved. The group had previously pledged not to attack airports in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Air travel felt the effects directly:

• •Flightradar 24, a tracking platform, said dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed at Jeddah airport
• •The rebels have warned airlines about their plans to use Saudi airspace for attacks, and thousands of flights across the kingdom have been disrupted
• •Attacking airports and oil infrastructure forms part of the Houthi strategy

The repeated strikes on one of the world's top oil exporters have further rattled global markets.

Taiz under siege

The city drawing the sharpest alarm is Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, which the Houthis have besieged. Where goods can be found at all, prices have soared, and gas stations sit empty or out of service. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Taiz has seen some of the "highest casualty burdens" in the country.

Resident Fathiyya Mohamed al-Mugahed said she went out searching for flour, cooking gas and fuel and found none. "The Houthis have surrounded us from all sides," she said. "Projectiles are all we have received from them."

The World Food Programme said it can no longer reach more than 600,000 people in Taiz who depend on aid, as the fighting between the rebels and the Yemen-Saudi coalition continues to escalate.