Houthis Strike Riyadh, Aden Airports as Yemen War Intensifies — SkimNews
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- Houthis claimed a ballistic missile strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Oct 7, with spokesman Yahya Saree saying the strike disrupted air traffic; the Saudi-led coalition said the missile was intercepted.
- Yemen's internationally recognised government launched a counter-offensive on Oct 5 with Saudi coalition air support, claiming to have uprooted Houthis from strategic Red Sea areas near the port city of Mocha, though military sources from both sides told AFP they saw no major frontline shifts.
- Houthis fired missiles near Aden airport's runway minutes before a scheduled Cairo flight, forcing it to divert to Jeddah, and separately claimed strikes on Saudi Arabia's Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.
- Yemen's civil war reignited in July after a four-year ceasefire, with Houthis seizing the entire western Red Sea coastline last month in fighting the source describes as the deadliest in years.
- The UN's International Organization for Migration said more than 200,000 people have been internally displaced by the latest fighting, while clashes on Oct 7 alone killed at least 62 combatants, including 37 Houthis, according to military sources from both camps.
Why it matters: The Houthis' single-day strikes across Riyadh, Abha, Khamis Mushait, and Aden airports show the group retains multi-front missile and drone capability even as Yemen's government claims territorial gains from its Oct 5 counter-offensive. Flightradar24 data shows Riyadh airport facing frequent temporary airspace closures that Saudi authorities will not publicly acknowledge, undermining confidence in the coalition's repeated claim that incoming missiles are intercepted.
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