Yemen's terrorist Houthi militia attacked Aden's international airport with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones on Wednesday, the country's Transport Ministry said, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and legitimate government forces intensified.
One missile landed near the runway minutes before a flight from Cairo was due to land, the ministry said. The airport is the main international gateway for parts of Yemen outside Houthi control.
The ministry said the attack happened while passengers were waiting for a 3:00 AM flight bound for Jeddah. At the time, two aircraft, one belonging to Yemenia Airways and the other to Aden Airways, were stationary on the tarmac, placing passengers, airport staff, and flight crews in immediate danger.
The risks arising from the attack prompted authorities to cancel the landing of an incoming flight from Cairo and diverting it to Jeddah. The two stationary aircraft were moved away from the danger zone, while Houthi drones were detected in the airspace over Aden.
The Ministry of Transport said that targeting the airport is a dangerous escalation and a violation of international laws and norms that provide protection for civil aviation, airports, and civilian facilities.
It warned of the attack's repercussions on the safety of air navigation and the lives of passengers and workers.
It called on the international community and organizations concerned with civil aviation, led by the International Civil Aviation Organization, to condemn the attack and assume their responsibilities in protecting airports, civilian facilities, and commercial aviation from military targeting.
The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights condemned the attack, considering the targeting of Aden airport a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and a threat to civilians' rights to life, security, and freedom of movement.
It recalled the Houthi attack on Aden airport on December 30, 2020, which coincided with the arrival of the Yemeni government and resulted at the time in casualties, injuries, and damage to the airport and its facilities.
In the city of Taiz, which is besieged by the Houthis, five civilians were injured following Houthi shelling that struck the Al-Shamasi and Al-Thawra areas in the city center, according to a medical source.
Battles have focused in recent days on areas around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a shipping route that has become more crucial for energy exports since the conflict between the US and Iran restricted trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
This week, Yemeni government forces with Saudi-led coalition air support launched a counteroffensive to recapture strategic territory near the strait and around the town of Mokha that the Houthis had captured in September.
The fighting, a spillover from the wider US-Iran conflict, has revived a complex 12-year war in Yemen that led to one of the worst humanitarian crises globally and fragmented the Arab world's most impoverished country. The number of people displaced since the latest round of fighting began has risen to more than 200,000, the International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday.
"People are running for their lives and finding nowhere safe to go," said IOM Director General Amy Pope, who called for more funding amid rising needs for food and shelter. Both sides allege that hundreds of people have been killed in fighting, without providing details. The UN says three in four families are going hungry in parts of Yemen.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted infrastructure including airports, oil refineries and pipelines in Saudi Arabia.
One person was killed and eight wounded in an attack on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh, and two were killed and 28 wounded in an attack on facilities at Abha airport, Saudi civil aviation authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
One of the attacks was on Wednesday and the other on Tuesday, it said.
On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile north of the Saudi capital Riyadh. It said it was tracking the launch platform over Houthi-controlled Sanaa and would destroy it.
Any Houthi stranglehold on the Strait could threaten shipping or global oil flows.
Fighting on the western front remains concentrated in the Dhubab district overlooking Bab al-Mandeb, with pro-government forces attempting an advance in the strategic hills to the east of that coastal plain, Yemeni military and government sources said.
On Monday the Yemeni government said it had reached Mokha, which sits at a junction with a supply route to the critical battleground of Taiz, but the claim had been premature, according to Yemeni military officials on the ground and analysts.
