Strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia killed a dozen people in Houthi-held Yemen on Wednesday, while the Iran-backed group targeted the perimeter of the airport in government stronghold Aden, the latest violence since Yemen’s war reignited this summer.
Houthi broadcaster Almasirah reported 14 dead “and 10 wounded, including women and children in a preliminary toll,” in attacks blamed on Saudi Arabia that hit a market and a petrol station in the northwestern Jawf province.
In Aden, a Houthi missile fell inside the perimeter of the airport shortly before the Iran-backed group issued a call to evacuate the area, a local police source told AFP.
The source added that the strike hit while a Saudi military aircraft was at the airport, but the plane “was not hit and took off shortly afterward.”
He spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
“Our armed forces call on those present at Aden airport to immediately evacuate due to the presence of a military cargo plane belonging to the Saudi enemy transporting weapons to kill the sons of the Yemeni people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on Telegram.
The Houthis have targeted Aden several times in recent weeks. They have also intensified attacks on their Saudi foe, while they battle the government it backs in Aden, shifting the focus of the wider Middle East war that erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
The same police official in Aden had on Saturday told AFP that the Houthis targeted a Saudi coalition military position near the Aden airport. It was also targeted the previous week.
Two missiles also landed within the airport perimeter earlier this month, a day after a deadly missile attack struck the presidential palace in Aden.
In July, a fragile 2022 truce fell apart after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Yemen’s capital Sanaa in defiance of Saudi control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.
Later, the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, before seizing government-held territory in Yemen along the Red Sea coastline in a lightning campaign.
In response, the Houthis have reported frequent Saudi airstrikes.
