Daijiworld Media Network - Riyadh
Riyadh, Jul 14: Yemen's Houthi movement fired missiles towards Saudi Arabia on Monday after accusing the kingdom of carrying out airstrikes on an airport under its control, marking the collapse of a four-year truce between Riyadh and the Iran-backed group.
According to the Saudi-led military coalition, the missiles launched by the Houthis towards the kingdom's southern region were intercepted.
"Missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the southern region were intercepted," the coalition's spokesperson said in a statement posted on X.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, the capital of the Asir region bordering Yemen.
The strikes are the first claimed by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia since an informal ceasefire came into effect in March 2022 following attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure.
The latest exchange of hostilities raises concerns over renewed conflict along Saudi Arabia's southern border, after tensions linked to recent hostilities involving Iran had begun to ease following an April truce.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis, who control northern Yemen, accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport and vowed retaliation. Describing the strikes as "blatant aggression", the group declared that the period of de-escalation had ended.
The Houthis also warned international airlines against operating in Saudi airspace until what they described as the "siege" on Sanaa airport was lifted.
The airstrikes on Sanaa airport were claimed by Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.
Yemen's Ministry of Defence said the runway at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing in violation of the country's sovereignty.
The ministry warned that government forces would respond "by all available means" to any hostile aircraft entering Yemeni airspace illegally and held Iran responsible for the incident.
A military spokesperson later said the aircraft landed instead at Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport on Yemen's Red Sea coast. It was not immediately clear whether any attempt had been made to prevent the landing.
Separately, a Yemeni minister alleged that the Houthis were also detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Sanaa airport.
ICRC spokesperson Hachem Osseiran said all staff members and the aircraft crew were safe but declined to comment further.
The escalation comes days after an ICRC-mediated prisoner exchange agreement between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government collapsed, with both sides blaming each other.
Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognised government to relocate to the south.
Saudi Arabia led a military coalition that intervened in 2015 against the Houthis, triggering a prolonged conflict that has contributed to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
Although the 2022 truce had largely held despite regional tensions linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict and attacks by the Houthis on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Monday's missile exchange marks the most serious breakdown in relations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in more than four years.