Houthi Strikes Reported in Yemen’s Aden as Fighting With Saudi Arabia Intensifies

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement launched missile and drone attacks on military positions in the southern city of Aden on Wednesday, according to Yemeni security sources, as fighting between the group and the Saudi-led coalition intensified following the collapse of a fragile truce.

Two Yemeni security sources told AFP that two missiles targeted a camp belonging to the Saudi-led coalition in western Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

A third projectile, later identified by the sources as a drone, targeted another camp belonging to Yemeni forces in the city center but was intercepted.

The reported attacks came as Saudi Arabia’s military said it had intercepted and destroyed three cruise missiles launched by the Houthis toward the Riyadh area, marking another escalation in cross-border hostilities.

Saudi Arabia has faced repeated Houthi attacks since fighting resumed, with its international airport reportedly forced to close for two weeks last month following deadly strikes.

On Sunday, the Houthis also damaged a skyscraper in Riyadh’s financial district belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco.

Aden has been repeatedly targeted by the Houthis in recent weeks. On Oct. 15, a missile strike on the presidential palace in the city killed four people, according to Yemeni government military sources.

Funeral held for victims of deadly strikes

The latest escalation coincided with funeral ceremonies in Sanaa, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, for dozens of people killed in strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia last week.

Large crowds gathered at the Mosque of the People on Wednesday to attend prayers for the victims, with mourners chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

The Houthis said a Saudi airstrike on Saturday hit the village of al-Shariya, outside Sanaa, killing 44 people, including 21 children, and wounding 40 others. The claims could not be independently verified by AFP.

Houthi-affiliated Almasirah television also reported another strike as emergency teams searched the site for survivors.

Following the prayers, the funeral procession transported the bodies to al-Shariya for burial. Photographs and names of the victims were displayed on coffins covered in white cloth.

"They were all innocent... People were simply having a meal with their families and children," Daifallah Sarhan, a farmer from the area, told AFP earlier this week.

Fragile truce collapses

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and drove the internationally recognized government from the capital. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government.

A fragile truce reached in 2022 collapsed in July, triggering renewed exchanges of attacks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

The breakdown followed the Houthis' decision to allow an Iranian aircraft to land in Sanaa in defiance of Saudi restrictions on Yemeni airspace, according to the report, setting off a new wave of hostilities.

The Houthis subsequently declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia and began attacking Saudi vessels, territory and energy facilities before launching a rapid campaign that brought Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline under their control.

Saudi Arabia has responded with repeated airstrikes against Houthi positions, while the group has continued reporting attacks on its territory.

The renewed fighting has killed more than 1,600 people and displaced over 300,000 others in Yemen, according to the United Nations. At least 26 people have been killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia since hostilities resumed.

The latest strikes underscore the growing risk of a wider regional confrontation, as the conflict increasingly extends beyond Yemen's front lines to include Saudi urban centers, military installations and critical energy infrastructure.