Houthis Claim Ballistic Missile Strike on Saudi Position

Yemen’s Houthis said they fired a ballistic missile at a Saudi position in Aden on Wednesday, while clashes continued elsewhere in the country. The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said its forces targeted the Saudi-led coalition’s operations room at Badr camp. A police official in Aden said an earlier blast came from “a Houthi missile.”

Two security sources in the city told Agence France-Presse the attack hit a site near the airport belonging to forces from the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis. Smoke reportedly rose near the airport. The reported strike marked the third attack in a week against the seat of the Riyadh-backed government.

Missile Strikes in Aden

The latest reported strike came after two missiles landed within Aden airport’s perimeter on Friday. The Houthis claimed responsibility. A day earlier, the group launched a deadly missile attack on Aden’s presidential palace, hitting command centers inside the al-Maashiq presidential compound. Government forces and the Saudi-led coalition use the compound.

The airport and presidential compound now rank among the sites targeted in Aden’s recent escalation. Accounts of Wednesday’s strike rely on Houthi claims and local sources: Yahya Saree described an operations room as the target, while the police official blamed an earlier blast on a Houthi missile. Two other security sources said coalition forces owned the site hit near the airport.

Fighting continues elsewhere in Yemen, too. Al-Jumhuriya TV reported renewed heavy clashes between Yemeni armed forces and Houthi fighters at the old airport and around Mount Han, west of Taiz city. The internationally recognized Yemeni government continued its military offensive against the Houthis in southwestern Yemen.

Offensive and Regional Escalation

On Tuesday, the Yemeni army said it carried out 744 attacks against the group over 24 hours. The army said its operations neutralized around 200 members and destroyed or damaged 90 vehicles and other military assets. The Yemeni army reported those figures; the article offered no independent assessment.

Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognized Yemeni government have recently faced sustained Houthi attacks. These developments have shifted attention within the wider Middle East war, which the article says began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. It also reports that a fragile 2022 truce collapsed in July, after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, defying Riyadh’s control over Yemeni airspace.

More attacks followed the truce’s collapse. The Houthis later declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, attacked Saudi ships, territory and oil facilities, and seized government-held territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline in a rapid campaign. Saudi Arabia’s air force has regularly targeted the Houthis in support of the Yemeni government. The latest missile claims and reports of fighting add to that record of attacks and military operations.