Houthis Target Saudi Airport After Strike On Sanaa Airport, UN Warns Of Major Escalation In Yemen

Riyadh: Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed that they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport, hours after airstrikes hit Sanaa International Airport as retaliation. The strike and counter-strike were the first major escalation between the two sides since a period of relative calm that has held since 2022.

According to reports, no casualties were reported from the attack on Abha, but the developments have raised alarm in the region. The internationally recognised Yemeni government stated that the strike on Sanaa was intended to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing, while the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of targeting civilian infrastructure and humanitarian flights.

Earlier, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon as the officials warned that Yemen could be sliding back into open conflict. “Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari stated, while addressing the 15-member council. 

He further added, “We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.”

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a video statement posted on Telegram that the group had launched missiles and drones at Abha International Airport in response to the strikes in Sanaa. He warned commercial carriers to avoid Saudi airspace, as the tension escalated between the two sides. In his message, Saree stressed that the warnings should be taken “seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted”.

He added earlier in the day that the Saudi raids had ended a period of “de-escalation” and that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”. In a later update, he claimed, “The Sanaa strikes were aimed at closing it to humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded individuals to and from Sana’a International Airport.”

The official spokesperson of the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said on X that the air defences had dealt with ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards the southern region, without giving further details.

In the meantime, the Yemeni government has claimed that the attack on Sanaa International Airport was carried out to stop an Iranian plane from landing. Defence Minister Gen. Taher al-Aqili said in a post on X that the runway was struck to prevent an Iranian aircraft transporting a Houthi delegation from returning from the funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a video statement released shortly before the strikes, Gen. al-Aqili said, “At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means.”

Rashad al-Alimi, who leads Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, also stated that Iran had requested permission for Mahan Air to fly from Tehran to Sanaa to bring the delegation back. The council said that it had denied the request, accusing the Houthis of insisting on receiving the Iranian flight “outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation”.

The Houthis further claimed that the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport, where it landed. Footage broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah appeared to show a missile hitting a runway at Sanaa followed by a loud explosion. The government in the south announced that all airports in Yemen were ‘closed until further notice, with immediate effect’ and the defence ministry ordered the evacuation of Sanaa airport and surrounding areas.

Pertinently, Yemen’s war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the north, forcing the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), intervened in 2015 to restore the government. Tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi rose earlier this year as their partnership in Yemen frayed, leading the UAE to pull out.

Houthi-controlled areas were last targeted by the coalition before a UN-brokered truce came into effect in 2022. UN special envoy Hans Grundberg asserted that his office was monitoring developments in Yemeni airspace and urged restraint to preserve the relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022.