Houthis strike Aden airport in Yemen after evacuation warning, officials say

Yemen's Houthis attacked the airport in Aden, the southern port city where the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government is based, on Wednesday, government officials said, after the Iran-aligned group warned people to evacuate the facility. Reuters reported that air traffic was halted after the strike and that an aid source said no one was hurt. ARY News carried the same report. Reuters said the attack came as fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government has intensified in recent weeks.

What we know

• Reuters reported that two transport ministry officials told it air traffic was halted after the strike, and that an aid source said some UN staff left the airport shortly before the attack.
• Reuters reported that residents said they heard an explosion near the airport, and that explosions had also been heard elsewhere in the city before the warning was issued.
• Business Recorder reported that Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a post on X that the evacuation call was due to what he said was a Saudi military cargo aircraft carrying weapons at the airport.
• Reuters reported that the International Organization for Migration said its personnel travelling through Aden were safe and accounted for after reports of an attack.
• Türkiye Today reported that the Yemeni Transport Ministry said on Oct. 24 that two ballistic missiles targeted the airport, the fourth such attack on the facility that month.
• Reuters reported that the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and most of northwestern Yemen, have repeatedly targeted Aden airport in the past.

What we don't know yet

• Reuters and Business Recorder both reported there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on Saree's claim about a Saudi cargo aircraft, which is the Houthi spokesperson's allegation.
• The sources do not say how much damage the strike caused or when air traffic at Aden airport will resume.
• The toll from the reported strikes on Yemen's Jawf region is not settled. Reuters said Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported 14 people killed and 15 injured in what it described as a Saudi attack, while Türkiye Today reported that Houthi sources gave 14 killed and 10 wounded in al-Hazm, and called the toll preliminary. Türkiye Today's headline referred to 11 killed.

Background

Qatar Standard reported earlier that the Houthis fired several missiles at the al-Maashiq presidential palace complex in Aden, according to Saudi Arabian media. Qatar Standard also reported that Aramco told staff to evacuate its headquarters in Dhahran, according to a Reuters report carried by The Jerusalem Post, as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia escalated.