Saudi authorities said three people were killed and 36 others injured in Houthi attacks on two international airports, including the main airport in the capital Riyadh.
The Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, including a ballistic missile launched at King Khalid International Airport, as fighting intensifies between the group and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen, reports France 24.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said on Wednesday that Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport came under attack on Tuesday and Wednesday.
An Egyptian and an Algerian national were killed at Abha airport, while a Sudanese national died at the Riyadh airport, according to the authority.
The Saudi-led military coalition supporting Yemen’s pro-government forces said it had destroyed the ballistic missile launch platform used in the attack on Riyadh.
It later blamed the Houthis for the attacks and vowed retaliation.
“The brutal attacks by the Terrorist Houthi Militia on civilian and civilian objects in the Kingdom, most recently targeting (the two airports) will not go unpunished,” the coalition said on X.
The coalition said it subsequently destroyed 82 “legitimate military targets”, including mountain-based Houthi ballistic missile facilities, command-and-control centres, communication systems and sites where Houthi fighters were gathering.
The Houthis control much of north-western Yemen and are fighting Saudi-backed forces after the country’s civil war resumed in July. The group has captured large areas of coastal territory.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that the latest fighting has displaced more than 200,000 people inside Yemen.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government announced a major counter-offensive this week and said its forces had driven Houthi fighters from strategic areas along the Red Sea and around the port city of Mocha.
The Houthis, however, said they still held their positions. Military sources from both sides contacted by AFP reported no major changes on the ground.
The rival claims could not be independently verified as the situation remains fluid and journalists face difficulties accessing affected areas.
Flight diverted
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile on Wednesday.
“Our armed forces have just targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile. The strike was accurate, by God’s grace, and led to a disruption of air traffic,” he said on X.
The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted the missile.
The Houthis also claimed to have targeted a military supply convoy near Aden airport, in the interim capital of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
Yemen’s Saba news agency reported that missiles and drones targeted the airport.
Citing transport authorities, Saba said one missile landed near the runway only minutes before a Cairo flight was due to arrive. The flight was diverted to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Saree also said Houthi drones and missiles targeted Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, claiming they had “hit their targets accurately”.
It was the second time this week that the Houthis claimed to have targeted Riyadh’s main airport.
Terrified
Saudi Arabia has led an international coalition against the Houthis since 2015 and is now supporting Yemeni government forces in an effort to reverse the group’s latest advance.
The coalition said on Monday that it was providing air support for the government’s counter-offensive.
Yemen’s civil war resumed in July after a four-year ceasefire. Last month, the Houthis captured the entire western coastline along the Red Sea in the deadliest fighting the country has seen in years.
At least 62 combatants, including 37 Houthis, were killed in fresh clashes in western Yemen on Wednesday, military sources from both sides told AFP.
Saba also reported that the Houthis fired a missile at Taiz, a city controlled by government forces, injuring five civilians.
“We went out into the street to check on the wounded and saw young civilians who had been hit. The Houthi shell landed in the middle of the street, right in an area crowded with civilians,” resident Al-Fateh al-Eisaei told AFP.
Yemen’s government has said it aims to retake all territory controlled by the Houthis. Much of that territory is home to most of the country’s population and has remained under Houthi control for more than a decade.
The conflict has created a severe humanitarian crisis, leaving most of Yemen’s population dependent on aid.
Mohammed, a 33-year-old charity worker who fled Mocha for Aden, said on Tuesday that “people there are terrified” of the Houthis.
