Missile, Drone Strikes Hit Aden, Saudi Airports; Yemen Denounces Houthi Escalation
ADEN/RIYADH: Monitoring Desk — Houthi militia fired missiles and drones at Aden International Airport and targeted airport facilities in Saudi Arabia, leaving three people dead and several others wounded, as Yemen strongly condemned the attacks on civilian aviation facilities.
According to reports, the Houthis launched two ballistic missiles and several drones at Aden International Airport. The missiles landed close to the tarmac just minutes before a Yemenia Airways flight was scheduled to land.
The attack was described as the first on Aden airport in five years after the earlier attack on December 30, 2024, when officials of Yemen’s new government arrived on a flight.
On the Saudi side, the country’s civil aviation authorities said on Wednesday, October 7, that three people had been killed in attacks on airports as fighting intensified in Yemen. One person was killed and eight others were wounded in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, while two people were killed and 28 wounded in an attack on facilities at Abha airport, the authorities said in a statement.
The Yemeni government strongly condemned the attack, saying it could have endangered dozens of passengers aboard incoming flights, airport staff and travellers in the terminal waiting for the departure of a flight to Jeddah.
In a statement, Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attack posed a threat to regional and international aviation safety. The ministry held the militia fully responsible for the strike and its consequences, saying that targeting a civilian gateway serving Yemenis from all governorates was a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and civil aviation protection norms, without any justification.
The ministry also appreciated the measures taken by the relevant authorities to secure the airport and protect passengers and air crews. It said attacks on civilian institutions would not deter the state from protecting its citizens and facilities, ensuring the safety of air navigation and safeguarding the right to safe travel.
The ministry warned that the attack threatened regional and international civil aviation safety and urged the UN Security Council and the international community to condemn it. It also called for practical steps to prevent a repeat of such attacks and to hold accountable all those who planned, ordered or took part in carrying them out, in line with international law.
Yemen further urged the International Civil Aviation Organization and relevant bodies to condemn the attack and strengthen measures for the protection of airports and civil aviation.
On March 30, 2021, an investigation by a UN team of experts found Yemen’s Houthis responsible for the December 30, 2024, attack on Aden airport, which killed at least 22 people as members of the country’s internationally recognised government arrived.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis vowed retaliation, saying the attacks “will not go unpunished”. In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the coalition said it had struck more than 80 Houthi military sites across the governorates of Saada, Hodeidah, Jawf and Marib.
