Houthis launch attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Aden

Key points

• Houthis attacked Aden airport with two ballistic missiles, the fourth such attack this month, Yemen's Transport Ministry said.
• Saudi civil defence said two Houthi missiles were fired toward Mecca and Medina and were intercepted.
• Yemen's army said a Houthi missile malfunctioned and killed three people in Sanaa on Friday.

Houthi fighters have launched a series of attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and in Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Yemen's Transport Ministry said the Houthis targeted Aden International Airport with two ballistic missiles, calling it the fourth such attack this month.

The ministry said the airport attacks threaten the safety of civil aviation and have humanitarian and economic consequences for citizens who depend on the airport. Yemeni authorities said the coastguard headquarters and a second building were also hit, while the Houthis claimed attacks on the al-Nasr camp and Aden's naval military base.

Missiles and strikes

Saudi Arabia's civil defence said on X that the Houthis launched two ballistic missiles toward Mecca and Medina and warned of falling shrapnel after the missiles were intercepted. Images shared on X by the Saudi Press Agency appeared to show a large, blackened missile-shaped object that had landed somewhere in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's army said a Houthi missile killed three people when it malfunctioned and fell on a home in Houthi-held Sanaa on Friday. Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said Saudi coalition air strikes killed several civilians in Sanaa and Hodeidah; the claim could not be verified and Riyadh has not commented.

a blatant disregard for the lives and security of civilians

— Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi

Responses and fighting

The Houthis rejected the claim that they targeted Mecca and Medina as a "huge lie", saying their targets were three Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and an airbase. Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, called the attacks "heinous" and said they show "a blatant disregard for the lives and security of civilians".

Yemeni army spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said government forces carried out more than 700 "targeting operations" in the past 24 hours, "neutralising" 300 Houthi fighters and disabling military vehicles. He said operations hit field command centres, Houthi gatherings, weapons depots and supply lines in Taiz. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the figures.