Houthi Missiles Hit Aden Airport in Yemen as Saudi Coalition Intercepts Missile Aimed at Yanbu

Two missiles landed on the grounds of Aden International Airport in southern Yemen on Friday, in an attack apparently carried out by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The same day, the Saudi-led military coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, said it had intercepted a ballistic missile headed for Yanbu, a Red Sea city that is a key Saudi oil export hub because it lets the kingdom ship crude while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

The attack on Aden

The Aden Security Department blamed the Houthis and said it was the second attack on the airport in less than a week. A Yemenia Airways flight bound for Cairo was preparing for takeoff at the time. No casualties were reported. In a statement attributed to a military source, the Houthis said the target was the Saudi forces' command headquarters at the Badr camp in Aden province, along with a weapons depot.

Coalition response

The coalition said it had also destroyed two cruise missiles over the Red Sea and three drones over Saudi Arabia's Southern and Riyadh regions, without naming who launched them. On Saturday it reported destroying two ballistic missile launchers near Saada, where Houthi-affiliated media had reported strikes. Saudi Civil Defense issued an alert for Abha, near the Yemeni border, and later lifted it.

Background

The Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and forced the government south. A Saudi-led intervention began in 2015, and a 2022 truce held until this year. Fighting resumed after a Saudi strike on Sanaa International Airport in July. A Houthi-run health ministry spokesperson said 124 civilians had been killed and 327 wounded since the escalation began on September 3; Reuters could not independently verify the figures.

Brent crude briefly touched $110 a barrel on Friday, its first time at that level since May, amid concerns over shipping safety and tighter energy supplies.