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The Saudi-led coalition has conducted a series of military operations against Houthi positions in Yemen after attacks on two airports in Saudi Arabia killed three people and injured 36.
Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said a missile launch site in Sanaa had been destroyed. The coalition said it identified the site as the platform used in an attack on Riyadh and struck it as preparations were under way for another missile launch toward Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation earlier said attacks had targeted King Khalid International Airport and Abha International Airport in the country’s south.
Saudi officials said two women, citizens of Morocco and Algeria, were killed in the attack on Abha airport, and 28 people, including foreign nationals, were injured. Their injuries ranged from minor to serious.
A Sudanese citizen was killed in the attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, while eight people, including citizens of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, were injured. Airport infrastructure was damaged. Officials said emergency teams were immediately deployed to secure the sites and assist passengers and staff.
Houthis claim responsibility for attacks
The Houthis, who operate in Yemen, said they carried out the attacks using ballistic missiles and drones. The movement controls large areas in northern Yemen, including Sanaa, and has repeatedly targeted Saudi territory, airports, energy infrastructure and military sites during the conflict.
The latest attacks came after a period of relative calm following a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations that took effect in 2022, as fighting has again intensified.
The coalition later said it had carried out additional strikes on Houthi military infrastructure in several Yemeni provinces. Al-Maliki said dozens of sites had been targeted in Saada, Hudaydah, Al Jawf and Marib, including missile depots, command centers, communications networks and weapons stores.
Al-Maliki said attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure would draw a military response. The Houthis have not commented on the coalition strikes.
Forces linked to Yemen’s government launch new operation
The airport attacks coincided with a broader military campaign by forces affiliated with Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Yemeni army said it had carried out more than 2,000 operations this week as part of an operation dubbed “Dawn of Yemen,” launched on several fronts against Houthi positions.
Military spokesman Col. Majid al-Nuzayli said government forces had targeted the Houthis, supply routes, defensive positions and military sites, and claimed that hundreds of vehicles had been destroyed.
He said 1,860 Houthis had been “neutralized” during the operations. The spokesman did not say how many had been killed or wounded. The figures could not be independently verified.
The new offensive is part of the internationally recognized Yemeni government’s effort to retake areas under Houthi control. Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said the goal was to recapture the capital, Sanaa, and restore state institutions.
The Houthis have held Sanaa since seizing the city and much of the country in 2014. The takeover prompted a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015. The conflict has continued for more than a decade, and diplomatic efforts have yet to produce a lasting agreement.
