Houthis Fire Missiles at Saudi Airport After Sanaa Airport Strikes
Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced that they launched a volley of missiles and drones at Abha international airport in the south‑west of Saudi Arabia on Monday, saying it was a direct response to recent Saudi air strikes on the city’s Sanaa airport.
The Saudi‑led coalition that supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government said its air defence systems intercepted the incoming weapons, and no casualties were reported on either side.
The Houthi threat was escalated by a Saudi attack that the rebels say hit the departure and landing runways of Sanaa airport. They blame the kingdom for allowing an Iranian aircraft to enter Yemeni airspace, a claim that underscores differences over air‑space control in the region.
The strike was carried out by the Yemeni government in Aden, which said it was preventing an Iranian plane from making a landing at Sanaa after the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The flight was forced to divert to the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, a move the Houthis criticised as a violation of international law.
This incident comes after a four‑year informal truce that had largely calmed tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The latest exchange of fire suggests that the fragile ceasefire could soon unravel, sending fresh shockwaves through an already devastated region.
Yemen’s civil war – beginning in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital – has left more than 150,000 dead and precipitated one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with over 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
Video footage on social media shows plume after plume of smoke rising above Sanaa’s rooftops, a stark visual testament to the severity of the airport’s damage.
Earlier this week, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree warned, “Saudi Arabia’s aggression has ended the de‑escalation phase and will not go unpunished.”
The Houthi military spokesman also cautioned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace until the blockade on Sanaa airport lifts, signalling the depth of the group's concern over the wider regional security of the Gulf region.
The Saudi‑led coalition’s statement posted on X confirmed that air defences “dealt with” the ballistic missile threats from Abha and emphasised that the coalition was acting on request from the Yemeni government.
International reaction came swiftly, with the United Nations Security Council’s Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari warning that “Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation.” He called for constructive negotiations under UN auspices.
The UK’s UN representative denounced the “reckless Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, which threaten regional security.” Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the Saudi sorties on Sanaa airport as a “clear violation of international law.”
