Yemen Houthi don fire missiles go Abha airport for south-western Saudi Arabia on Monday. Dem say na response to air strikes wey hit Sanaa airport wey dem blame on Saudi kingdom.
Saudi-led coalition wey dey back Yemen internationally-recognised government say air defence ‘deal with’ the missiles and no person get injure.
Houthi wey dey control north-western Yemen and get Iran support accuse Saudi Arabia of ‘blatant aggression’ say dem strike runway of Sanaa airport.
Yemen government claim the strike and say dem want stop Iranian plane from landing. This one na the most serious escalation for the conflict wey don almost sleep between Houthi and Saudi Arabia since informal truce start four years ago.
Yemen don suffer from civil war wey begin in 2014 when Houthi push government from Sanaa capital. The war escalate in 2015 when Saudi-led coalition of Arab states come in to help restore government rule.
Fighting don kill more than 150,000 people and cause one of the worst humanitarian crisis for the world. According to UN, more than 22 million people need some kind of aid.
Monday afternoon, social media show smoke rising above rooftops for Sanaa after strikes at international airport. Houthi al-Masirah TV say ‘departure and landing runways’ na target.
Yemeni government wey dey base for Aden say their forces carry out the strikes because of dispute over plane wey Houthi delegation use from Iran after funeral of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yemen defence ministry say ‘terrorist Houthi militias backed by Iranian regime prevent Yemeni national aircraft from landing at Sanaa airport while insisting on allowing Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, airport runway target.’
Iranian plane don divert and later land for Hudaydah city about 150km south-west, according to Houthi.
For more than ten years, aircraft wey enter Yemeni airspace need clearance from Saudi-led coalition wey say dem dey act at Yemeni government request.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree accuse Saudi Arabia of being behind Sanaa strikes wey he say end ‘de-escalation phase’ of their conflict and go not go ‘unanswered or unpunished.’
Saudi authorities no comment on the strikes before Saree announce Monday evening say Houthi launch number of ballistic missiles and drones at Abha International Airport ‘in response to this criminal Saudi aggression.’ He also warn airlines against flying through Saudi airspace ‘until blockade on Sanaa International Airport lift.’
Spokesman for Saudi-led coalition for Yemen later write for X say ‘air defences deal with ballistic missile threats launched by terrorist Houthi militia towards Southern Region.’
For emergency meeting of UN Security Council for New York, Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari express concern about the strikes. ‘Yemen and wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation,’ he say. ‘We call on all actors to constructively engage in negotiations under UN auspices.’
UK representative for UN say dem strongly condemn ‘reckless Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia wey threaten regional security.’ Iran foreign ministry condemn attack on Sanaa airport say na ‘clear violation of international law.’
