Yemen’s Houthis struck the main airport in the nation’s interim capital on Friday, while its missiles and drones fired toward Saudi Arabia were intercepted, as the flare-up in fighting showed no sign of abating.
Two missiles fell within the boundaries of Aden airport and no one was killed, according to the state-run Saba news agency. It was the second such attack this week. Aden is a key logistical hub for Yemen’s internationally recognized administration.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it intercepted drones in the area of the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as missiles over the Red Sea and one targeting Yanbu. The port city is a significant hub for Saudi oil exports that avoid the Strait of Hormuz. Air raid alerts were issued in several parts of the kingdom overnight Friday and on Saturday, including in the southern areas of Abha and Khamis Mushait.
Fighting erupted in July after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports, claiming the kingdom was besieging parts of Yemen, and seized additional territory. Saudi-led forces launched a full-scale military campaign against the militia early this month, saying their goal was to eliminate the group.
The war has compounded an energy supply crunch stemming from the Iran war, with the Houthi’s targeting ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait — a key oil-export corridor. Brent crude hit $110 a barrel for the first time since May on Friday as prospects for the resumption of normal flows dwindled.
A missile and drone attack targeted the presidential palace in Aden earlier this week, killing and injuring several security personnel. The Houthis, one of Tehran’s main proxy militant groups, claimed they were targeting a Saudi military command center in the city. Attacks on its airport risk isolating Yemen’s government from its main backer and supplier.
The fighting hasn’t been confined to Yemen, with the rebels staging attacks on the Saudi capital’s main airport last week that killed 17 people, injured more than 300 and forced a complete shutdown of operations. There have been 20 strikes on the airport since the start of October.
Airports in the towns of Abha, Najran, Jazan and Dammam have also been hit, as has the head office of oil giant Saudi Aramco in the eastern city of Dhahran.
On Friday, the UK navy said it received a reports of two tankers being attacked near Saudi Arabia’s port city of Jubail in the Persian Gulf. One of the vessels was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade and the other by an unknown projectile, and both crews escaped unharmed, it said.
The US has been assisting Riyadh with intelligence, targeting and aerial refueling, but has so far resisted becoming directly involved in the fighting. The White House is now reconsidering, with President Donald Trump saying he is looking into whether American forces should join in the Saudi-backed strikes.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi urged his nation’s parliament to hold an emergency session to authorize action to protect Saudi Arabia if it was requested by the Saudi king or crown prince.
“We’re talking about for defense only,“ the president said at a graduation ceremony at a military academy on Cairo’s outskirts on Saturday.
The fighting is disrupting major business and entertainment events in Saudi Arabia. Organizers of the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament this week announced that they would move the event to December, while a flagship political summit with the European Union scheduled for next week was also postponed. The kingdom’s flagship financial gathering, the Future Investment Initiative, is looking at contingency measures including virtual attendance, Bloomberg has reported.
The Australian embassy in Saudi Arabia issued an advisory on Friday that cautioned against travel to the kingdom due to the “volatile security situation,” and advised those who do use its airports to exercise extreme caution.
The UK government said it was advising against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia and maintained a warning against travel to within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of the border with Yemen. Nationals wishing to leave Saudi Arabia should consider doing so by land, it said.
–With assistance from Chris Miller and Tarek El-Tablawy.