Yemen’s internationally recognised government says Houthi forces have fired missiles at the airport in Aden, one day after a deadly attack on the presidential palace in the southern port city.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said on X that two missiles landed near the runway at Aden International Airport on Friday. One came down about 500 metres from an aircraft that was getting ready to take off. He said all passengers and crew were unharmed, and he thanked divine providence for averting what he described as a possible humanitarian disaster. He called the strikes on the airport a serious breach of international law and norms.
Missiles land near the Aden runway
In a statement attributed to a military source, the Houthis said they had targeted the Saudi forces’ command headquarters at the Badr camp in Aden province, as well as a weapons depot. The group’s claim was reported alongside the government’s account, and the two sides gave very different descriptions of what was hit.
Aden is the seat of the internationally recognised government. The attack comes amid heavy and continuing fighting in Yemen’s renewed civil war, which pits the Saudi-backed government against the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Ground fighting in Marib and Taiz
Government forces said earlier on Friday that their troops had advanced in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa. Military spokesman Majed al-Nazili said government troops, supported by air power, had won significant territory in the eastern part of the province and taken control of key positions.
He also said Yemeni forces had neutralised more than 430 Houthi fighters over a 24-hour period. According to him, more than 100 Houthi vehicles and military assets were destroyed or disabled.
In Taiz governorate, which has become a major battlefront, government forces said they had repelled several large-scale Houthi attacks and inflicted heavy losses. They also claimed to have captured a drone unit linked to the Houthis in the Taiz area. In recent weeks, Houthi forces have encircled Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest urban centre, by cutting its main road south to Aden. The move has caused widespread displacement and deepened a humanitarian crisis.
Regional tensions and Saudi accusations against Iran
On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had shot down missiles and drones over Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of encouraging Houthi attacks on the kingdom, including by arming and training the group.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the accusation on Friday, saying Tehran had played no role in any Houthi operations. The ministry also repeated an offer to mediate between the Houthis and Riyadh.
The war began in 2014, when the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced the government to flee. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to support the government, and years of fighting followed. A UN-backed truce in 2022 halted most of the fighting, but tensions have risen since July, when the Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi ports and shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. In September, the group launched a rapid ground offensive on Mocha, pushing government-loyal forces out of the Red Sea port city. The same month, its forces again advanced along the western coast and the strait, seizing territory including the strategically placed Mayyun Island.
