Houthis hit Abha airport after Saudi strike on Sanaa fuels escalation

Cairo,UPDATED: Jul 14, 2026 01:50 IST

Missiles and drones launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted Saudi Arabia's Abha Airport on Monday, in what the group said was retaliation for airstrikes on Sanaa Airport that they blamed on Riyadh. No casualties were reported, but the exchange marked a major escalation after a period of relative calm between the two sides.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government said the strike on Sanaa airport was meant to stop an Iranian plane from landing. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the airstrikes, though the Saudi-led coalition later said its air defences dealt with ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards the kingdom's south.

Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree said in a video statement on Telegram that the group had carried out the attack on Abha airport. He also warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying the warning should be taken "seriously until the blockade on Sanaa Airport is lifted".

Earlier in the day, Saree said Saudi Arabia had launched the airstrikes in what he called the end of a period of "de-escalation". He warned that "this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished". In a later Telegram update, he said the strikes on Sanaa were aimed at "closing it to humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded individuals to and from Sanaa Airport".

The latest flare-up followed tensions earlier this month, when the Houthis said Saudi planes had violated their airspace to stop an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation to Tehran for the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yemen's Defence Minister Gen Taher al-Aqili said in a post on X that Monday's strike hit the airport runway to stop an Iranian plane carrying the delegation back from the funeral. Shortly before the strike, al-Aqili said in a video statement: "At this moment, we say that our patience has run out. Accordingly, we will respond appropriately to this treacherous and brutal act, and we will confront and deal with the hostile aircraft violating Yemeni airspace and sovereignty by all available means."

The Houthis said the plane was diverted to Hodeida Airport, where it landed. Video carried by the Houthi-run al-Masirah broadcaster appeared to show a missile hitting a runway at Sanaa airport, followed by a loud explosion. A statement from the government in the south said all airports in Yemen were "closed until further notice, with immediate effect", while the defence ministry ordered the evacuation of the airport and nearby areas.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said Iran had requested permission for a Mahan Air flight from Tehran to Sanaa to return the Houthi delegation. The council said it had denied the request and accused the Houthis of insisting on receiving the Iranian flight "outside the legal and sovereign frameworks governing civil aviation".

UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said his office was monitoring developments in Yemeni airspace and voiced concern about the risk of wider escalation. He urged all sides to engage in dialogue to preserve the "relative calm Yemen has experienced since 2022". Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the north, prompting a Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, to intervene the following year. Monday's exchange was the first major escalation since Houthi-held areas were last targeted before a UN-brokered truce came into effect in 2022.

In sum, the attack on Abha airport and the earlier strike on Sanaa airport have sharply raised tensions between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, with both sides linking their actions to the Iranian flight and the status of Yemeni airspace.

With PTI Inputs

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