Houthi strikes on Saudi airports kill 3 as Yemen fighting escalates

The Big Picture

Houthi attacks on two Saudi international airports killed three people and wounded 36, Saudi aviation authorities said, as renewed fighting in Yemen spilled across the border into the kingdom.

The strikes hit Abha International Airport, near Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen, and King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, on October 6 and October 7. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation did not specify which airport was attacked on each date.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for both attacks, describing them as a response to Saudi military action in Yemen. The strikes represent a significant cross-border escalation in a conflict that has intensified in recent weeks.

What Happened

Two people were killed and 28 others were wounded in the attack on Abha International Airport, the General Authority of Civil Aviation said. The dead were two women, one Moroccan and one Algerian.

At King Khalid International Airport, one person was killed and eight were wounded, the authority said. The person killed was a male Sudanese resident.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group used ballistic missiles and drones against the two Saudi airports. Saudi aviation authorities did not identify those responsible for the attacks in their statements.

Al Jazeera also reported that Saudi Arabia had confirmed three deaths in Houthi strikes on two of its international airports.

What Each Side Is Saying

Saree said the Saudi airport attacks were a response to what he called Saudi aggression against Yemen. He said there had been 60 airstrikes and missile attacks in the preceding 24 hours, a claim reported by the BBC.

In a statement issued late Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said the airport attacks would not go unpunished. The coalition said it had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites in the governorates of Saada, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf and Ma'rib.

Saree also said Houthi forces attacked Aden International Airport in Yemen on Wednesday, according to the BBC. The airport is an important international gateway for areas outside Houthi control and has previously been targeted during periods of fighting.

Background

Yemen's civil war has worsened after the Houthis, who control much of the country's northwest, seized strategically important stretches of the Red Sea coast in a rapid offensive, the BBC reported. That advance included the port of Mokha on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow maritime passage crucial to global shipping.

Yemeni pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have said they secured the Bab al-Mandab Strait and declared an all-out war to retake Houthi-held territory.

The Saudi-led coalition was formed in 2015 to support Yemen's internationally recognized government after the Houthis took control of large areas of the country. A temporary ceasefire was brokered in 2022 following years of airstrikes and ground fighting that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and fueled a major humanitarian crisis.

Why It Matters

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called continued Houthi cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and said he was deeply concerned by the sharp escalation in fighting.

The United Nations said more than 200,000 people had been displaced by the latest escalation in Yemen. The BBC reported that hundreds of people have reportedly been killed on both sides since the latest Houthi advance.

The attacks on Abha and Riyadh underline the risk that a rapidly expanding battle inside Yemen could again bring civilian areas and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia into the conflict.