Yemen’s Houthis attack Aden airport; Saudi forces down missile near Riyadh

Yemeni government says one of the missiles hit Aden airport’s runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land.

Two Houthi missiles target Yemen’s Aden International Airport

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has accused the Houthis of firing ballistic missiles and drones at the main international airport under its control, as Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted another missile north of its capital, Riyadh.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport said the Houthis targeted the runway and passenger terminal at the airport with at least two ballistic missiles and several drones.

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“One of the missiles landed near the runway minutes before the Yemeni flight from Cairo was to land,” it said. “We cancelled the landing of the incoming flight from Cairo [in Egypt] and diverted its route to Jeddah [in Saudi Arabia] to protect the passengers.”

The ministry also said it evacuated the airport terminal and removed two planes from the tarmac during the attacks.

It added, “This incident could easily have turned a civilian flight into a horrific humanitarian disaster, claiming the lives of dozens of innocent people in an instant.”

Aden airport is the main international gateway for parts of Yemen outside Houthi control in the city that has been the seat of the government since the takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Iran-supported group in 2014.

The Houthis said in a statement they targeted “Saudi military supplies” arriving at the Badr camp near the airport with ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s government.

Separately, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile, launched by the Houthis, north of Riyadh.

In a social media post, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, said it was tracking the launch platform used in the attack via an intelligence system over Sanaa, and promised to destroy it.

The Houthis said in statements on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday that they had targeted Saudi international airports in Riyadh and Abha.

The intensified fighting in Yemen comes amid mounting regional tensions set off by the US-Israel war on Iran. The Saudi-backed government forces launched a counteroffensive against the Houthis to retake the Red Sea port of Mocha and areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Fighting has concentrated in the southwestern province of Taiz.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, described “all-out battles to take over the ground, the highlands and the mountains east of Bab al-Mandeb”.

“It’s a battle to take over the strategic western part of Taiz, and whoever controls the wider vicinity will overlook the region and have dominant military control,” he said.

“For the Yemeni government to take control of Mocha and the strategic bases and locations along the Red Sea coast, it first has to drive the Houthis off the mountains east of Mocha.”

Pakistan and Turkiye on Monday agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under their mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter Houthi attacks.

也门政府称，其中一枚导弹击中了亚丁机场的跑道，当时一架从开罗起飞的航班即将降落。

两枚胡塞武装导弹瞄准也门亚丁国际机场

也门国际公认的政府指责胡塞武装向其控制下的主要国际机场发射弹道导弹和无人机，与此同时，沙特阿拉伯表示在其首都利雅得以北拦截了另一枚导弹。

交通部周三发表声明称，胡塞武装至少使用两枚弹道导弹和数架无人机袭击了机场的跑道和旅客航站楼。

也门军队声称在曼德海峡附近取得重大进展（共 3 份清单，第 1 份）：最新情况如何？

也门政府正在对胡塞武装发动进攻（共3条，此为第2条）。情况发生了哪些变化？

也门军队发起攻势，试图夺回胡塞武装控制的塔伊兹省瓦齐亚地区（共3条记录，此为第3条）。

声明称：“一枚导弹在也门航班从开罗起飞前几分钟落在跑道附近。为了保护乘客，我们取消了这架从埃及开罗飞来的航班的降落，并将其改道飞往沙特阿拉伯吉达。”

该部还表示，袭击发生期间，他们疏散了机场航站楼，并将两架飞机从停机坪上移走。

声明还补充道：“这起事件很容易将一架民用航班变成一场可怕的人道主义灾难，瞬间夺走数十名无辜者的生命。”

亚丁机场是也门胡塞武装控制区以外地区的主要国际门户。自 2014 年伊朗支持的胡塞武装占领首都萨那以来，亚丁一直是也门政府所在地。

胡塞武装在一份声明中称，他们使用弹道导弹袭击了运抵机场附近巴德尔营地的“沙特军事物资”。沙特阿拉伯支持也门政府。

另外，在也门作战的沙特领导的军事联盟表示，他们在利雅得以北拦截并摧毁了一枚胡塞武装发射的弹道导弹。

沙特领导的联军发言人图尔基·马利基少将在社交媒体上发帖称，联军正在通过萨那上空的情报系统追踪此次袭击中使用的发射平台，并承诺将其摧毁。

胡塞武装在周二和周三凌晨发表声明称，他们袭击了沙特阿拉伯利雅得和艾卜哈的国际机场。

也门战事升级之际，正值美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争，导致地区紧张局势加剧。沙特支持的也门政府军对胡塞武装发动反攻，试图夺回红海港口摩卡和曼德海峡周边地区。

战斗主要集中在西南部的塔伊兹省。

半岛电视台记者尤瑟夫·马乌里从萨那报道称，“为争夺曼德海峡以东的地面、高地和山区，双方展开了全面战斗”。

他说：“这是一场争夺塔伊兹西部战略要地的战斗，谁控制了周边地区，谁就能俯瞰整个地区，并拥有绝对的军事控制权。”

“也门政府要想控制摩卡以及红海沿岸的战略基地和地点，首先必须将胡塞武装赶出摩卡以东的山区。”

巴基斯坦和土耳其周一同意根据与沙特阿拉伯的共同防御条约启动“威慑措施”，并迅速向海湾王国部署部队以应对胡塞武装的袭击。