Yemen: Houthis Fire Missiles at Saudi Arabia After Airport Strike

Yemen's Houthi group said on Monday it launched missiles at Abha airport in south-western Saudi Arabia, in retaliation for air strikes on Sanaa's international airport that it blamed on the kingdom. The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, said its air defences intercepted the missiles and reported no casualties.

The Houthis, who control north-western Yemen and are backed by Iran, accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes on the runway of Sanaa airport, calling it a 'blatant aggression'. However, the Yemeni government, based in Aden, claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it aimed to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Iranian plane was carrying a Houthi delegation returning from Iran after the funeral of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The incident marks the most serious escalation in the largely dormant conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia since an informal truce took effect four years ago. Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015 after the Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government's rule.

The war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with over 22 million people in need of aid, according to the United Nations. On Monday afternoon, social media footage showed plumes of smoke rising above Sanaa after the strikes.

The Houthi-controlled al-Masirah TV said the 'departure and landing runways' were targeted. The Yemeni defence ministry stated that 'the terrorist Houthi militias, backed by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the airport in Sanaa, while insisting on allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted.'

The Iranian plane diverted and later landed in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah, about 150 km (93 miles) south-west of Sanaa, according to the Houthis. For over a decade, aircraft entering Yemeni airspace have required clearance from the Saudi-led coalition, which says it acts at the Yemeni government's request.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the Sanaa strikes, which he said ended the de-escalation phase and would not go 'unanswered or unpunished'.