Houthis target Aden airport with missiles as Yemen fighting intensifies
Yemen’s presidential leadership council chairman Rashad al-Alimi on Monday announced Operation “Dawn of Yemen”, saying the campaign aimed to retake the capital Sanaa and restore state institutions from Houthi control.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched two missiles towards Aden International Airport early Wednesday, as fighting intensified between the group and government forces backed by Saudi Arabia, officials said.
The missiles targeted the airport in the southern port city, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, the media office of the Aden Security Department said. The coalition said the missile threats originated from areas under Houthi control, including the capital Sanaa and the governorates of Saada and Amran. The strike came as government forces pressed ahead with a counteroffensive against the Houthis after weeks of advances by the group along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The latest fighting is also unfolding around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, with Saudi-backed government forces saying they have recaptured areas near the waterway with coalition air support.
Government forces said on Tuesday that they had captured a key mountain peak in western Taiz after clashes with the Houthis. Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, Saudi state television reported.