Houthis hit Saudi airport, 14 killed and hundreds wounded, raising Yemen war tensions

On Saturday and Sunday, the Houthis launched missiles at King Khalid International Airport, resulting in 14 fatalities and 309 injuries, the deadliest Saudi attack in more than ten years. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the operation targeted the airport in three stages and warned that all Saudi airports except those serving Mecca and Medina were unsafe. The assault came after a UN-mediated truce that had largely frozen the Yemen conflict since 2022 broke down, leading the coalition to resume full-scale war.

Since July, the Houthis have enforced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, captured the Red Sea port of Mokha, and pushed toward the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, prompting a Saudi-backed counter-offensive in early October. The fighting around Taiz has forced about 130,000 people from their homes. The group, officially Ansar Allah, seeks greater autonomy for Yemen’s north and an end to what it calls a Saudi siege, while also aligning its rhetoric against U.S. and Israeli influence and maintaining ties with Iran, which has expressed concern over the escalation.