A Houthi missile landed near Aden’s runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to arrive on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. Authorities canceled the landing and diverted the aircraft to Jeddah. Two planes on the tarmac were hurriedly moved away over fears of follow-up strikes. Yemen’s Transport Ministry said the group’s ballistic missiles and explosive drones targeted Aden International Airport in the early hours. The airport serves as the main international gateway for areas outside Houthi control and the interim capital of the internationally recognized government.
The Houthis, known officially as Ansar Allah, didn’t deny the attack. They described it as a strike on a military target. Military spokesman Yahya Saree said, “Our armed forces fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi military supply convoy that had arrived at Camp Badr, near the airport.” Whatever the label, a missile landing beside an active civilian runway just before a passenger flight arrives puts ordinary travelers in the line of fire.
The Security Picture
The Houthis didn’t stop at Aden. Saree wrote on X that the group had hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile, claiming the strike was “accurate” and “led to a disruption of air traffic.” The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, tracked the launch platform over Houthi-controlled Sanaa, and vowed to destroy it. Saudi authorities didn’t immediately confirm an attack on the airport, though Flightradar24 recorded frequent temporary airspace closures. It was the group’s second claim that week of an attack on the main airport in the Saudi capital.
The coalition also said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Saree claimed attacks on Abha International Airport and an airbase in Khamis Mushait, saying the group had “hit their targets accurately.” Saudi authorities didn’t confirm the Abha claim, and it wasn’t clear whether that claim involved the intercepted missile. On Tuesday, the Houthis said they had launched missile and drone attacks on several Saudi sites, including King Khalid International Airport, Abha International Airport and the Khamis Mushait airbase.
On the ground, the picture is murkier. Backed by Saudi Arabia, the internationally recognized government began a counteroffensive to retake Red Sea coastal territory the Houthis seized last month. On Sunday, it announced its aim was to retake all territory lost during 12 years of war. Forces supported by coalition air power moved around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the port city of Mokha. By Monday evening, the government said it had retaken the Arabian Gulf side of the strait and Mokha. Houthi channels denied the claim and posted videos of fighters inside the city. Open-source information appeared to corroborate those videos, suggesting fighting around the port largely involved long-range missile exchanges. Military sources from both sides told AFP there were no major changes on the ground. The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including most of the northwest. Reports have described the latest fighting as occurring amid spillover from the Iran conflict.
Civilian Impact
The human toll is climbing. New clashes in western Yemen killed at least 62 combatants on Wednesday, including 37 Houthis, military sources from both sides told AFP. Another report cited sources who said more than 270 government troops and Houthi fighters had died across the country over the previous day. Saba reported that a Houthi missile struck government-held Taiz, wounding five civilians. Taiz resident Al-Fateh al-Eisaei told AFP: “We went out into the street to check on the wounded and saw young civilians who had been hit. The Houthi shell landed in the middle of the street, right in an area crowded with civilians.”
The United Nations said the escalation has displaced more than 200,000 people inside Yemen. The UN refugee agency said more than 130,000 people had been displaced since the beginning of August, and nearly 3,700 had fled to Djibouti since Sept. 10. According to Yemen’s Ministry of Health and Population figures covering 10 governorates, the World Health Organization said 959 people were killed and 4,207 wounded across Yemen between Aug. 6 and Oct. 2. Cholera cases tripled in three weeks. Five governorates hosting many displaced people, including Taiz, Aden and Abyan, accounted for 94% of recent cases.
The health system is buckling. The WHO said it urgently needs $31 million, more than three times its previous $9 million target. Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, the WHO’s representative in Yemen, said, “The situation is evolving into a complex emergency, with health needs rising as resources are already severely stretched.” Hospitals face shortages of surgical supplies, anesthetics, blood-bank stocks and fuel. Emergency maternity services have stopped in Marib and Ras Al-Arah. As of the previous week, only about 1,250 of the 198,000 displaced people, less than 1%, had received health services. The WHO also reported more than 22,000 suspected measles cases and 128 deaths this year. El-Nino conditions expected to begin this month could worsen outbreaks and malnutrition.
The Regional Threat
Saudi Arabia has led an international coalition against the Houthis since 2015, 11 years ago, after the group seized Sanaa in 2014. A U.N.-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted heavy fighting but didn’t bring a lasting settlement. According to one report, the civil war reignited in July after a four-year ceasefire. The coalition accuses Iran of arming, training and funding the group. The Houthis deny being part of Iran’s Middle East proxy network and say they develop their own weapons; Tehran also rejects the allegations. Yet the group, described as mountain fighters numbering in the tens of thousands, fields missiles and drones that threaten the region. According to one report, the violence has affected world energy markets and regional shipping routes.
Saudi aid is flowing even as Saudi territory faces attacks. KSrelief and the IOM signed a $2.6 million agreement to improve living conditions for displaced people, and KSrelief handed out shelter kits in Hadhramout and Aden. The IOM said 22.3 million people, more than two-thirds of Yemen’s population, need humanitarian assistance and protection this year.
Why This Matters: A group that fires ballistic missiles at civilian airports in two countries isn’t behaving like a party seeking a settlement. The Houthis’ reach, from Aden’s runway to Riyadh’s airspace, shows how a militia with Iran-linked weaponry—a charge Tehran and the group both reject—can disrupt air travel, shipping lanes and energy markets far beyond its borders. The 2022 truce collapsed without a durable political deal, and the cost is being counted in cholera cases, displaced families and shattered health services. For Gulf states and the wider region, humanitarian relief and military deterrence have to move together; aid alone won’t stop missiles, and deterrence alone won’t feed 22.3 million people in need.