Yemen government 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 an attack at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft landing.

The Yemeni capital Sanaa – and much of northern Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah on the western Red Sea coast – is controlled by Houthi ⁠rebels aligned with Iran, while the government, which ⁠has the ⁠backing of ⁠Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, is based in Aden on the south 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 immediately evacuate the airport and its surroundings 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.

Later in the day, the Houthi’s reported that the aircraft carrying a delegation back from Tehran had landed in Al Hudaydah on the Red Sea coast.

Houthi broadcaster al-Masirah quoted the group’s transport minister as saying “the Iranian plane has landed on the homeland’s soil, carrying a number of medical patients and stranded citizens, accompanied by the official delegation of the Republic of Yemen”.

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

The rebels threatened then 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 defence minister said the government 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, damage and famine, with the UN describing the situation as one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.