The Houthi militia has attacked Al-Rayyan International Airport in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province, according to Yemeni media, while claiming a separate ballistic missile strike on the southern city of Aden.
State-run Hadramout TV reported on Wednesday that three strikes hit the airport’s runway and electricity administration facilities in Mukalla. No injuries were reported.
The channel broadcast footage it said showed the attack but did not specify the weapons used. The privately owned Al-Masdar Online website reported that three drones believed to belong to the Houthi militia had targeted the airport.
The militia had not issued a statement on the reported Al-Rayyan attack, the first at the airport since military escalation resumed in July, according to Anadolu’s correspondent.
Al-Rayyan is one of Yemen’s main civilian airports, serving millions of people across Hadramout and other provinces.
Missile strike in Aden
Separately, state-run Saba reported that the Houthi militia had targeted Aden International Airport with a ballistic missile, without providing further details.
Residents told Anadolu they heard a loud explosion near the airport.
The militia claimed a ballistic missile strike on Aden but identified its target as “the Saudi operations room at the Badr camp”.
The claim was made in a Telegram statement by the group’s spokesperson, Yahya Saree.
Yemen TV also reported air strikes on Houthi militia positions east of the coastal city of Mokha, without providing details of the targets or casualties.
Meanwhile, Al-Jumhuriya TV reported renewed heavy clashes between Yemeni armed forces and Houthi militia at the old airport and around Mount Han, west of Taiz.
Government offensive
The developments come amid an ongoing offensive by Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthi militia in the country’s southwest.
On Tuesday, the Yemeni army said it had carried out 744 attacks against the militia over 24 hours, claiming to have “neutralised” around 200 of its members and destroyed or damaged 90 vehicles and other military assets.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthi militia seized Sanaa and several other provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.
The militia controls much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.
