Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility for missile and drone attacks targeting military facilities and airports in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni port city of Aden, escalating a conflict that has created a crucial new front in the regional proxy war.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that the Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced the attacks on social media, stating that ballistic missiles and drones were launched towards King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. While evidence was not immediately provided, flight tracking platform Flightradar24 indicated brief disruptions to flights in and out of the Saudi capital.
The rebel spokesperson also claimed strikes on Abha airport, a frequent target, as well as an air base in Khamis Mushait and two military bases in Najran and Asir, all located in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border. The Saudi-led coalition, in response, stated that its forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile north of Riyadh.
These claims come amidst a intensified ground and air offensive by the Saudi-led coalition and allied Yemeni forces aimed at dislodging Houthi control over territory seized along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. These strategic positions have provided the rebels with enhanced surveillance capabilities and allowed them to pursue a blockade against Saudi vessels.
Earlier in the week, coalition officials reported the recapture of several key areas around the strait. Fighting has since concentrated in and around the town of Dhubab, south of the port city of Mokha, and in the Waziayah district of southwestern Taiz province, an area that overlooks routes to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
In addition to the strikes in Saudi Arabia, the Houthis also asserted responsibility for a missile attack on Aden, Yemen’s port city and the de facto seat of the internationally recognized government. An Associated Press journalist reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday. The rebel spokesperson claimed ballistic missiles struck a military camp near Aden airport, with Aden security authorities reporting two missiles targeting the airport without any casualties.
The Aden police issued a statement condemning the attack on the vital civilian facility, characterizing it as a direct threat to the safety of civilians, passengers, employees, and flight crews. Yemen’s Ministry of Human Rights warned that the attack on Aden airport, which saw one missile land close to the runway shortly before a flight from Cairo was scheduled to land, threatened a humanitarian disaster. The flight, operated by Yemen’s national airline, reportedly landed safely.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, suggested in an analysis that such attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities and airports, are a Houthi strategy to increase economic pressure on Saudi Arabia and compel concessions. The ongoing hostilities underscore the complex and volatile nature of the conflict in Yemen, with significant regional implications.
The Chenab Times News Desk