Houthis Claim Missile Strike on Riyadh Airport as Yemen Fighting Escalates
Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted ballistic missile north of Riyadh as Houthi attacks target Saudi and Yemeni airports amid renewed fighting
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said Wednesday they had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi missile launched toward the Saudi capital.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on X that the group had targeted King Khalid Airport with a ballistic missile and claimed the strike disrupted air traffic at the facility.
The Houthis also said they had targeted an area near the airport in Aden, the interim capital of Yemen, as fighting between the group and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government intensified across the country.
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward northern Riyadh had been intercepted and destroyed.
The Houthis separately claimed that their forces had conducted drone and missile attacks against several Saudi facilities, including Riyadh airport, Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, saying the attacks had hit their targets.
It was the second time this week that the Houthis claimed to have targeted King Khalid International Airport.
Saudi authorities have not publicly confirmed a Houthi strike on the airport or acknowledged the temporary closure of its airspace. However, flight-tracking website Flightradar24 has reported frequent temporary disruptions to flights in the area.
Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said Tuesday that at least three people were wounded in attacks targeting Jazan and Najran airports near the Yemeni border a day earlier.
The latest attacks came as Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, continued a counter-offensive against the Houthis following the group’s rapid territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
Yemen’s military said Monday that its forces had pushed the Houthis away from areas around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategically important Red Sea chokepoint, and the port city of Mocha.
Government forces also reported advances in parts of Taiz and southern Marib.
The Houthis, however, rejected claims that they had been pushed back, with Saree saying the group maintained control over the territory it had seized during its recent offensive.
The group said its forces had repelled government advances southwest of Al-Waziya, a strategic area overlooking approaches to the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The competing battlefield claims could not be independently verified, as the situation on the ground remains fluid and access for journalists is severely restricted.
Renewed fighting
The escalation marks a major deterioration after a four-year ceasefire, with the Houthis having seized most of Yemen’s northwestern territory and recently expanding along the western coastline overlooking the Red Sea.
The renewed conflict has added another layer to the wider Middle East war, threatening one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes and raising concerns over further disruption to regional energy markets and international shipping.
Sources on both sides told AFP on Tuesday that more than 270 government troops and Houthi fighters had been killed in fighting across Yemen over the previous 24 hours.
The Houthis’ health ministry also said Tuesday that a Saudi airstrike killed six members of a family, including four children, in a village in Hajjah governorate. The claim has not been independently verified.
A resident who fled Mocha to Aden described the situation in the coastal city as increasingly dire.
“Life in Mocha has come to a complete standstill,” the resident, identified by AFP as Mohammed, a 33-year-old charity worker, said. “The city has become a war zone.”
The Yemeni government has vowed to retake all territory held by the Houthis, much of which has remained under the group’s control for more than a decade and is home to the majority of Yemen’s population.
The escalation is also unfolding against a broader regional security backdrop. Pakistan and Türkiye on Monday pledged to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defense pact, adding a new dimension to Riyadh’s efforts to strengthen its security posture amid heightened regional tensions.