Escalation in Yemen: Saudi-led forces respond to Houthi assaults on civilian airports
82 Houthi military targets in 4 Yemeni provinces destroyed after deadly airport assaults
The Saudi-led coalition said Wednesday it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in four Yemeni provinces following attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia.
Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki Al-Maliki said the operation targeted sites in Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib, including 11 mountain-based ballistic-missile storage facilities in Saada.
The official said command-and-control centres, communications systems, missile and weapons depots and Houthi gathering sites were also hit.
Houthi attacks on Saudi airports
Al-Maliki said the strikes followed Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport, declaring that attacks on civilian sites “will not go unpunished.”
Saudi authorities said the airport attacks killed three people and injured 36.
The Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility, saying they had targeted the two airports with drones and ballistic missiles.
The latest exchange marks a sharp escalation in fighting as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces battle to regain territory from the Houthis, amid a wider regional conflict.
