Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted Aden’s airport and launched missiles at Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Wednesday as Yemeni forces backed by the kingdom battled to reclaim control of the strategic Bab al-Mandab waterway.
It was the first such attack on the airport of Aden — a southern port city that serves as the internationally recognised government’s de facto capital — since the long-running conflict reignited in July, and came two days after the government announced a major offensive to recapture territory taken by the Iran-backed rebels.
The Houthis said they were targeting a shipment of Saudi military supplies delivered to a camp near the airport, according to spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree.
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Houthi rebels in Yemen target Aden airport with missiles
He added that the rebels had also targeted Riyadh’s airport with ballistic missiles and drones, as well as Abha airport and Khamis Mushait air base in south-western Saudi Arabia.
Police in Aden said the city’s airport was attacked with two missiles but no casualties were reported, while the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards northern Riyadh.
Major General Turki al-Maliki, a spokesperson for the coalition, said they would target the missile-launching pad in Sana’a.
Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi air strikes, said they made gains in key strategic areas near the Bab al-Mandab and the port city of Mocha in recent days, but battles with the Houthis have continued across multiple locations along the Red Sea coast and Taiz province in the south-west of Yemen.
The Houthis last month took control of the areas overlooking the strait in a lightning offensive after declaring a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, giving the rebels the ability to monitor and attack Saudi ships and roiling global energy markets.
The attack on Aden airport comes after Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nato member Turkey said they had triggered a mutual defence pact for the first time, which would aim to ensure the “rapid deployment” of Pakistani and Turkish “military forces and capabilities” to the kingdom.
The decision followed an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday between the trio, who signed a defence pact in August. Analysts, however, did not expect ground troops to be deployed in the near term.
The escalating conflict has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in the country. The United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration said on Wednesday that the number of displaced people surged from 76,000 in mid-September to 201,217 people. More than 3,700 people have also fled by sea to Djibouti, it added.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 in an attempt to restore the internationally recognised government after the Houthis took over the capital Sana’a.
The truce agreed in 2022 collapsed in July after the Houthis, under mounting economic pressure, declared a blockade on the kingdom’s Red Sea ports, attacking Saudi tankers and targeting its oil infrastructure.