Yemen gov’t says its forces attacked Sanaa airport

Gov’t says its forces carried out a strike at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government says its forces have carried out a strike at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there.

The Yemeni capital, Sanaa – and much of northern Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah on the country’s western Red Sea coast – is controlled by ⁠the Iran-aligned Houthi ⁠rebels, while the government, which ⁠has the ⁠backing of ⁠Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, is based in Aden on the southern coast.

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“The Houthi terrorist militia, supported by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the capital’s airport, Sanaa, and insisted that the Iranian aircraft violate Yemeni airspace. Therefore, the airport runway was targeted,” the government said in a statement on Monday.

Earlier, the Defence Ministry warned civilians, workers, diplomatic missions and humanitarian organisations to evacuate the airport and its surroundings immediately until further notice.

The Houthis said they would respond to the attack, blaming it on Saudi Arabia, without providing evidence.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.

Tensions have been rising since the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia earlier this month of attacking an Iranian plane that landed in Sanaa and took off carrying a Houthi delegation.

The rebels had threatened at the time to hit Saudi airports and vital assets should Riyadh violate its airspace or attempt to attack it again.

The latest escalation raised the spectre of renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia after a United Nations-backed ceasefire largely froze the conflict.

Moammar ⁠bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, the information minister in the internationally recognised government, said the Houthis had detained an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of ⁠the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and were holding its pilot and co-pilot.

Earlier on Monday, the government’s defence minister had said it had exhausted diplomatic efforts to ‌persuade Iran and the Houthis to stop what he described as Iranian aircraft violating Yemeni airspace. He said government forces would respond to ‌any ‌hostile aircraft violating Yemen’s airspace “by all available means”, and held Iran responsible.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis seized Sanaa and ousted the government. The war has caused widespread displacement and damage, with the UN describing the situation as one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.