Five people are dead and 16 injured after a Houthi missile attack struck the presidential palace in Aden, southern Yemen - the seat of the internationally-recognised government, which presumably thought "presidential palace" implied some level of safety. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told the BBC that the prime minister and other ministers were unhurt when five ballistic missiles hit al-Maashiq Palace, proving that sometimes the only thing standing between you and a ballistic missile is luck.

The Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, framed the strike as hitting "the Saudi enemy's military operations headquarters in Aden," which is one way to describe a government building. A Saudi-led coalition backs the government and is providing air support for an offensive by pro-government forces against the Iran-backed Houthis, because nothing says "regional stability" like a multi-front proxy war.

Yemeni health minister Qasim Buhaibeh said the casualties included "those working to guard the site and civilian employees" - in other words, people who definitely signed up for guard duty and not for being on the receiving end of five ballistic missiles. Prime Minister Shaya Zindani condemned the attack as "cowardly" and a "continuation of their criminal behaviour," vowing the government would keep carrying out its duties and that it would not weaken the resolve of its forces to continue operations against the Houthis on Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast and other front lines. So, business as usual, then.

Earlier, the Houthis denied attacking Saudi Arabia on Thursday, after the coalition said its forces intercepted a cruise missile in the Medina region, home to one of Islam's holiest shrines. The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for strikes on territory they control in western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. On Saturday, a Houthi missile strike killed 13 people at Riyadh's international airport - the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade, which is a statistic nobody wanted to update.

Saudi Arabia's deputy foreign minister, Rayed Krimly, accused Iran of encouraging the Houthis to escalate their conflict with the kingdom, telling reporters that "Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN Security Council resolutions" and that "the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran." There was no immediate response from Iran's government, which has previously denied supplying weapons to the Houthis and said it only supports them politically - a distinction that presumably provides great comfort to anyone within missile range. Iran's foreign minister has also said it is ready to provide "any assistance necessary to facilitate the start of talks" between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, because nothing says "we're not involved" like offering to mediate.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015 after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government's rule. A four-year informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea. The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The conflict escalated further in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait - a chokepoint for global shipping, because of course it is - contributing to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran. Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.

At least 1,282 people have been killed and 5,890 injured in the fighting in Yemen since 6 August, according to the government's health ministry. The UN says another 201,000 people have been displaced and that there has been an alarming surge in suspected cholera cases. Meanwhile, a Houthi missile hit an Aramco building after a Saudi-led coalition strike on a Yemen fuel depot, because the cycle of retaliation clearly needed another lap.