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Houthis claim strikes on Saudi airports and military sites as fighting escalates
Versión 2: New reporting adds Houthi claims of missile and drone attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and other Saudi sites, a Saudi-led coalition statement that it intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh, disrupted flights at Riyadh’s airport, a Saudi-led ground and air offensive in Yemen, and confirmation of Turkish and Pakistani support.
En breve
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they attacked military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, where tracking data showed flights disrupted; a Houthi spokesman gave no evidence for the claim. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired north of Riyadh. Pakistan’s defense minister said Pakistan and Turkey have been supporting Saudi Arabia, while Reuters reported Turkish officials saying Turkey is sending technical and defensive support.
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed they attacked military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, as the war between the kingdom and the Iran-backed group escalated. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on social media on Wednesday that the group used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, and that targets also included Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other “critical sites” in the cities of Najran and Asir. He did not provide evidence for the claim, according to the Boston Globe. [ 6 ]
Flights to and from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport were disrupted, with planes holding away from the airfield, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said the coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the rebels north of Riyadh. [ 6 ]
The claims follow a statement by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation that airports in the cities of Najran and Jizan were hit on Monday, damaging both facilities and leaving three people lightly injured. The statement did not say who was responsible, but it followed the Houthi announcement that they had fired missiles and drones at the kingdom. The Associated Press said it could not confirm whether the Houthis had hit Abha International Airport, and Saudi authorities did not immediately comment. [ 1 , 2 ]
The attacks came as Saudi Arabia and its allied Yemeni forces launched a major ground and air offensive on the Houthis on Yemen’s western coast and elsewhere in the country, aimed at reclaiming Houthi-controlled territory near the southern tip of the Red Sea to prevent disruptions to oil being exported out of the region. The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Yemen’s port city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government; an Associated Press journalist heard explosions that rocked the city around 2 a.m. local time. [ 2 , 6 ]
On regional support, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said his country and Turkey have been supporting Saudi Arabia in its conflict against the Houthis, as a trilateral security pact signed earlier this year faces its first test. “We are here and providing any assistance or help they need,” Asif said Monday in an interview with Geo News. Reuters reported that Turkish officials said Turkey is sending technical and defensive support to Saudi Arabia, and CNN reported that Pakistan confirmed troops are in Saudi Arabia. [ 3 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]
Separately, an outbound tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unknown projectile” on Monday, the British military said in a late report Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or environmental impact. Even as Iran has lost its near-complete chokehold on the strait, the ongoing risk of Iranian attacks keeps overall ship traffic well below prewar levels, according to the report. [ 2 ]
The fighting comes nearly three years after the Palestinian militant Hamas group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, and which sparked the war in Gaza. Israelis gathered at intersections, bomb shelters and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led militants overran to mark the anniversary, while for Palestinians the anniversary ushers in another day of misery, the Boston Globe reported. Palestinian officials said Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City killed two people, health officials at the city’s Shifa Hospital said, and condemned home demolitions in east Jerusalem and violence in the occupied West Bank. [ 1 , 2 , 6 ]
Por qué importa
The exchanges mark an escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, with a Saudi-led ground and air offensive under way in Yemen and Houthi claims of strikes on the Saudi capital. The documents also point to wider stakes: a trilateral security pact involving Pakistan and Turkey is being tested, and shipping risk in the region remains in play.
Datos clave
- Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said airports in the cities of Najran and Jizan were hit on Monday, damaging both facilities and leaving three people lightly injured. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The Saudi statement did not say who was responsible, but it followed an announcement by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels that they fired missiles and drones at the kingdom. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones against military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and he did not provide evidence for the claim. [ 6 ]
- Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, said the coalition intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the rebels north of Riyadh, according to the Boston Globe. [ 6 ]
- Flights to and from Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport were disrupted, with planes holding away from the airfield, according to Flightradar24, a tracking platform cited by the Boston Globe. [ 6 ]
- The Associated Press said it could not confirm whether the Houthis had hit Abha International Airport, and Saudi authorities did not immediately comment. [ 2 ]
- Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan and Turkey have been supporting Saudi Arabia in its conflict against the Houthis, as a trilateral security pact signed earlier this year faces its first test. [ 3 ]
- Reuters reported that Turkish officials said Turkey is sending technical and defensive support to Saudi Arabia, and CNN reported that Pakistan confirmed troops are in Saudi Arabia. [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]
Confirmado por varias fuentes
- Airports in Najran and Jizan were hit on Monday, damaging both facilities and leaving three people lightly injured, per Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The Houthis announced they had fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia, following the Saudi aviation authority’s statement on the airport strikes. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The Houthis claimed they attacked military facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia. [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Aún sin aclarar
- Who was responsible for the strikes on the Najran and Jizan airports. The Saudi civil aviation statement did not name a perpetrator, and the reports only note that it followed a Houthi announcement of missile and drone attacks.
- Whether the Houthis hit Abha International Airport. The Associated Press said it could not confirm the claim and Saudi authorities did not immediately comment.
- Whether the Houthi claims of strikes in Riyadh and elsewhere are accurate. The Houthi military spokesman did not provide evidence for the claim, according to the Boston Globe.
- The scale and role of Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia. CNN reported only that Pakistan confirmed troops are in Saudi Arabia, without article text giving numbers or duties.
- Details of the trilateral security pact between Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg mentions a pact signed earlier this year but gives no terms, date or full list of parties.
- Whether the Houthi missile strike claimed on Aden caused casualties. The claim comes from the Houthis, and the documents report only that an Associated Press journalist heard explosions around 2 a.m. local time.
- Who fired the projectile that struck the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The British military described it only as an “unknown projectile,” and no group was named.
- Turkish officials said Turkey is sending technical and defensive support to Saudi Arabia to help it fight the Houthis. Reported by a single source so far
Qué dicen los medios locales
Cronología, hora local
- The Associated Press reports that Saudi Arabia said airports in Najran and Jizan were hit Monday and that three people were lightly injured. [ 1 ]
- Further reporting adds that Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group fired toward a third airport on Tuesday, that AP could not confirm a strike on Abha International Airport, and that an outbound tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. [ 2 ]
- Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif says Pakistan and Turkey have been supporting Saudi Arabia, describing the trilateral security pact’s first test. [ 3 ]
- An Associated Press journalist hears explosions that rocked Aden, after the Houthis said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against the port city. [ 6 ]
- The Boston Globe reports the Houthis claimed attacks on military facilities and airports including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, that flights there were disrupted, and that the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh. [ 6 ]
- Reuters reports that Turkish officials said Turkey is sending technical and defensive support to Saudi Arabia. [ 8 , 9 ]
- CNN reports that Pakistan confirmed troops are in Saudi Arabia amid the Houthi attacks. [ 10 ]