Houthi fighters have launched a series of attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government in Aden. In a Facebook post on Saturday, the Yemeni government’s Transport Ministry denounced what it described as the Houthis’ targeting of Aden International Airport with two ballistic missiles, calling it the “fourth such attack this month”. The airport attacks pose “a threat to the safety of civil aviation” and have “humanitarian and economic repercussions for citizens” who rely on it, the ministry warned. Yemeni authorities said that the coastguard headquarters and a second building were also hit.
The Houthis claimed attacks on the al-Nasr camp and Aden’s naval military base. Yemen’s army said a Houthi missile killed three people when it malfunctioned and fell on a family home in Houthi-held Sanaa on Friday. The army said it was one of a number of missile malfunctions seen in recent weeks by the Iran-backed group. Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said on Saturday that Saudi coalition air strikes killed several civilians in Sanaa and in the port city of Hodeidah.
The claim could not be verified and Riyadh has not commented on the alleged raids. Also on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence said on X that the Houthis had launched two ballistic missiles towards Mecca and Medina, warning of “the fall of shrapnel” following their interception. Images shared on X by the Saudi Press Agency appeared to show a large, blackened missile-shaped object that had landed somewhere in Saudi Arabia. Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, described the Houthi attacks as “heinous”, which embody “a blatant disregard for the lives and security of civilians” in a statement shared on Saturday.
The Houthis said the claim that they targeted the two cities – the holiest in Islam – was a “huge lie”. They said their targets were three Saudi airports, oil infrastructure, and an airbase. The Houthis have persistently targeted Saudi energy infrastructure and airports across the country with long-range strikes since a fragile ceasefire agreed in 2022 fell apart in July. Intense fighting is continuing on Yemen’s front lines as the Houthis battle forces of the internationally recognised government for control of key areas.
On Saturday, Yemeni army spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said that government forces had carried out more than 700 “targeting operations” over the last 24 hours across Yemen, “neutralising” 300 Houthi fighters and disabling military vehicles. Al Jazeera could not independently verify those figures. Operations targeted field command centres, Houthi gatherings, weapons depots, and supply lines in Taiz, where intense clashes have been ongoing for days, the spokesman added.
