Smoke rises after reports of an airstrike hitting near the Sanaa International Airport ( Representative image: Reuters).
Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen vowed a firm response to an October 10 attack on an airport passenger terminal, describing it as a war crime. Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki said the strike resulted in civilian casualties, including 12 deaths, according to Saudi Gazette. Additionally, the Houthi-affiliated media, cited by Al Jazeera, reported seven air strikes on the Harf Sufyan district in the governorate of Amran, north of Sanaa. However, there was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia , Reuters reported. Saudi Gazette, citing the General Authority of Civil Aviation, reported that the fatalities included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals and one national each from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan.
He said the coalition’s Joint Forces Command would respond firmly in accordance with international humanitarian law. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said on X that the warning had been issued to all shipping companies, airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers. Both parties have increasingly targeted each other’s air-bound infrastructure, with the rebels calling the attacks a tit-for-tat measure “The Armed Forces affirm that they are steadfast in establishing the announced equations: airport for airport, siege for siege, and escalation for escalation, until achieving their objectives,” Yahya said. Six civilians, including a woman and a child, were injured in a Saudi strike on a home in Bab Sha’ab, Sanaa, according to the Houthi-run health ministry.
Yemen’s capital Sanaa is currently under rebel control. Al-Maliki blamed Yemen’s Houthi militia for the attack, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law and customary rules of war. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for that attack but claimed responsibility for two previous deadly attacks on Riyadh airport earlier in the week. Houthi-aligned media on Sunday reported several strikes on Houthi-captured territories by the Saudi-led coalition, including the Sanaa international airport. On Sunday, the Houthis renewed their warning against the use of Saudi airspace by airlines, companies and travellers, with the exception of Mecca and Medina airports.