The Houthis launched a deadly missile attack Thursday on the presidential palace in the Yemeni government's interim capital of Aden, as Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the recent dramatic escalation in the long-running war.

The attack hit command centres located inside the presidential compound used by government forces and the Saudi-led military coalition that supports them, a Yemeni minister said on condition of anonymity.

Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognised Yemeni government it backs have come under sustained Houthi attack of late, shifting the focus of the wider Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

The Iran-backed Houthis have seized swathes of territory along Yemen's Red Sea coastline in recent weeks, and a government counteroffensive with Saudi air support has so far failed to reverse the gains.

Government military sources in Yemen said at least four people were killed and 10 wounded in Thursday's strikes on Aden's Al-Maashiq palace in the divided country's south.

An AFP journalist saw smoke rising and residents of the city reported hearing explosions during the attack, the first on the complex since Yemen's civil war flared back to life in July.

A government minister said on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani had been present at the time, but "was not harmed in any way".

The minister said the Houthis hit a command centre for Yemeni government forces with three missiles, and another for Saudi-led coalition forces at the complex with two missiles, adding that there were Yemeni and Saudi casualties, without providing a specific toll.

Media affiliated with the Houthis said they had targeted "the headquarters of military operations, led by Saudi officers, at the Al-Maashiq Palace in Aden, as well as weapons depots belonging to them".

Yemen's civil war - in which Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting the government since 2015 - reignited after the collapse of a years-long truce, with the Houthis going on to launch their lightning offensive in September.

Riyadh on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging the escalation, saying it continued to arm and train the group.

Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry said Riyadh was still in touch with Iran, but that Tehran did not appear ready to make concessions.

"We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran," said Dr. Rayed Krimly.

The Saudi-led coalition said drones fired by the Houthis at the kingdom's southern region and the city of Khamis Mushait were intercepted.

Yemeni government forces said the Houthis had also fired "several ballistic missiles" at the central city of Marib, which sits in a strategic oil-rich region.

Oman meeting refused

In 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a deal mediated by China to thaw a longstanding freeze in ties, but the latest violence might threaten to upend the entente.

The Saudi ministry official went on to accuse the Houthis of refusing to meet as fighting ramped up between the two sides.

"At the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman and they refused," he added.

The ministry later said that the exchange took place in July.

Saudi Arabia suffered its deadliest attack in more than a decade on Saturday when a strike on Riyadh's international airport killed 13 people and wounded around 300 others.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said the group had attacked Riyadh's airport 20 times this month.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said "the Houthis must immediately cease all terrorist operations targeting civilians and civilian facilities, including airports, ports, oil facilities, and infrastructure".

He added the group had "worked to obtain advanced technologies with the help of regional actors", saying they now had "ballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones, and fast explosive-laden boats".

The attacks on Saudi Arabia have tested the country's infrastructure and resilience, the energy minister acknowledged earlier this week.

Riyadh usually hosts a packed calendar of events this time of year, including its flagship investment conference drawing foreign leaders and business titans.

In Yemen, the conflict has caused what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, leaving most of the nation's population dependent on aid.

(AFP)

Istanbul was battling on Thursday to recover from flooding caused by what officials described as the heaviest rainfall in at least 80 years, as the toll rose to three dead and five missing.

The rain began lashing Turkey's largest city in earnest on Wednesday morning and intensified throughout the day, causing chaos and flash flooding, with footage showing cars being dragged away by the fast-flowing waters.

"We are talking here about the highest level of precipitation in Istanbul since records began in 1942," Istanbul governor Davut Gul said.

The death toll from the floods rose to three when authorities found a man's body near a park in the Kagithane area on the European side, Gul's office said in a statement.

The storm also claimed the life of a 14-year-old boy who was electrocuted when he stepped into a puddle in the Balat area. He was rushed to hospital but medical personnel were unable to save him, officials said.

Five others were missing, officials said.

In Beykoz, on Istanbul's Asian side, DHA news agency said another man had died after falling into a well while trying to drain the water at a school construction site.

There was no immediate official confirmation of his death.

Dramatic images

Istanbul municipal teams and firefighters were carrying out cleanup operations at schools, football pitches, garages and other sites on Thursday, pumping water out of flooded areas and clearing mud, an AFP photographer reported.

On Wednesday evening, the governor said schools would be shut across Istanbul until Monday, urging people to stay home "unless absolutely necessary" and advising those living in basement properties "to spend the night on safer, higher floors".

Dramatic footage posted online late Wednesday and collated by DHA showed a line of parked cars in the northern Sariyer district being pushed into the torrent of muddy water, where they were swept away.

Another showed people being hauled from the raging waters to safety through a first-floor window, while elsewhere two people with umbrellas were seen stepping into the shovel of a large mechanical digger, which took them away.

Power and water cuts have also hit areas of the city, notably in Sariyer where shopkeepers could be seen trying to salvage their goods from the mud, an AFP journalist said.

Floods in other cities

Heavy rainfall in the nearby province of Sakarya caused a two-storey villa on the banks of a stream to collapse in Sapanca neighbourhood. As the house had been evacuated earlier, no one was killed or injured.

And in the neighbouring Kocaeli province, a stream overflowed in Gebze district, sweeping away a driver who was later rescued by emergency workers with ropes. In another district, Basiskele, one man was missing after being carried away by floodwaters, reports said.

Forty-three flights bound for Istanbul Airport had to be diverted Wednesday, as did three flights heading for Sabiha Gokcen on the Asian side, which temporarily suspended take-offs due to strong winds, the transport ministry said.

Turkey's AFAD disaster agency has set up a crisis desk to manage incidents caused by the heavy rainfall, which by nightfall Wednesday had risen to 1,277 flooding incidents, 15 landslides, 47 people stranded and two roofs blown off.

The heavy rains are expected to continue over the weekend.

(AFP)

Saudi Arabia on Thursday accused Iran of encouraging Yemen's Houthis in the dramatic escalation of their fight with the kingdom, adding that the Islamic republic continued to arm and train the group.

In a virtual briefing with reporters including AFP journalists, Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for public diplomacy at the foreign ministry said Riyadh was still in touch with Iran, but that Tehran did not appear ready to make concessions.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude oil exporter, has come under sustained attack by the Houthis in recent days, shifting the focus of the Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

It has launched retaliatory strikes on Houthi strongholds in Yemen - one of the world's poorest countries - but the Iran-backed group remains undeterred.

"Iran continues to arm, train and support the Houthi militia in violation of UN security council resolutions," said Dr. Rayed Krimly, the deputy minister.

"We think that the escalation by the Houthis at this latest stage of the conflict is encouraged by Iran," he added.

The official said the kingdom continued "to have direct communications with Iran", but added: "Overall, it doesn't seem yet that the Iranians are able to provide the necessary concessions for a solution."

In 2023, regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia reached a deal mediated by China to thaw a longstanding freeze in ties, but the latest violence might threaten to upend the entente.

The Saudi official went on to accuse the Houthis of refusing to meet in Oman in recent weeks as fighting ramped up between the two sides.

"At the beginning of this escalation, we asked them to meet in Muscat, Oman and they refused," he added.

"This was the last communication which happened a few weeks ago."

Airport strikes

On Saturday, a strike hit Riyadh's international airport, killing 13 people and wounding around 300 others, in the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in a decade.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis on Thursday said the group had attacked Riyadh's airport 20 times in October.

During a presentation in Riyadh covering the strikes, coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said "the Houthis must immediately cease all terrorist operations targeting civilians and civilian facilities, including airports, ports, oil facilities, and infrastructure".

"The terrorist Houthi militias have worked to obtain advanced technologies with the help of regional actors," he said, adding that the group now had "ballistic missiles, attack and suicide drones, and fast explosive-laden boats".

Yemen's civil war reignited in July after a years-long UN-brokered truce collapsed, months into a wider Middle East war that has rocked the region and roiled energy supplies and markets.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in September, when the Houthis launched a lightning offensive that saw them capture swathes of new territory in Yemen, including along the Red Sea coast where a waterway crucial to global energy flows is located.

On Thursday, the Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace in Aden, which also serves as the headquarters of the internationally recognised government, security sources told AFP, while a journalist saw smoke rising from the site.

"Houthi missiles targeted the Al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden," the government's interim capital, three local police sources said on condition of anonymity, after residents of the southern city reported hearing explosions.

Since their offensive began, the Houthis have also repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally recognised government whose forces they are battling on the ground.

The attacks on Saudi Arabia have tested the country's infrastructure and resilience, the energy minister acknowledged earlier this week.

Riyadh usually hosts a packed calendar of events this time of year, including its flagship investment conference drawing foreign leaders and business titans.

In Yemen, the conflict has caused what the United Nations calls one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, leaving most of the nation's population dependent on aid.

(AFP)