Yemen’s government accuses Houthis of airport attacks in Aden, Mukalla

The Houthis have conducted ballistic missile attacks on airports in the Yemeni cities of Aden and Mukalla, the country’s military has said.

Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said one ballistic missile targeted Aden International Airport, three missiles hit Mukalla’s al-Rayyan Airport, and another attack hit a sponge factory in Taiz’s Beir Basha.

“This is the militia’s approach: whenever it is broken on the battlefield, it pours its terrorism and aggression onto the lives of citizens, and these aggressions will not grant it an exit,” said al-Nazili.

The Houthis claimed a ballistic missile attack on Aden, but said that it targeted a military camp in the city.

A police official said earlier on Wednesday that smoke was rising near the international airport in Aden, the seat of power of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Yahya Saree, spokesman of the Houthi armed group, also known as Ansar Allah, meaning Supporters of God in Arabic, said in a statement the attack targeted a military camp used by the Saudi-led coalition, which has been battling the Houthis since a 2022 ceasefire in Yemen’s war collapsed earlier this year.

“Our armed forces were able to target the Saudi enemy’s operations room in the Badr camp in Aden with a ballistic missile,” Saree said in a statement, adding that “the strike was precise and direct”.

There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Yemeni government or the Saudi-led coalition.

The attack was the third on Aden in a week. On Friday, two missiles landed within the perimeter of the city’s airport, with the Houthis claiming the attack.

A day earlier, the group launched a deadly missile attack on the presidential palace in Aden, hitting command centres located inside the compound, which is used by government forces and the Saudi-led coalition.

Elsewhere in Yemen, government forces said that they had repelled a Houthi attack on western Taiz city, while clashes were ongoing since Wednesday morning in the area of the Old Airport and Madrat, also in western Taiz city.

The Saudi-led coalition separately said that pro-government forces were engaged in heavy fighting with the Houthis in Kahboub in southwest Yemen.

A coalition spokesperson said they were trying to repel a large-scale attack and were experiencing intense Houthi bombardment, describing the situation as “very dangerous”.

Clashes are ongoing under “intensive air cover” by coalition and Yemeni forces, the spokesperson said.

In a separate statement, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted five drones launched towards the kingdom, including in the Medina region, home to one of Islam’s holiest cities.

“Four drones launched towards the kingdom have been intercepted and destroyed,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, adding in a second post that the interceptions took place in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province as well as Medina.

Al-Malki, who did not specify who was behind the launches, later said another drone had been intercepted in the Eastern province.

The Houthis denied having targeted the kingdom, with Saree saying their forces had not carried out any “deep” operations in Saudi territory.

Fighting in Yemen escalated sharply last month when the Houthis seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast.

Government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, have been responding with a counteroffensive and have started Operation Dawn of Yemen, which aims to seize and recapture territory from the Houthis, including the capital, Sanaa, which has been under the group’s control since 2014.