Yemen's Houthis launch missiles at Saudi Arabia after strikes on Sanaa airport
Image: BBC News
Yemen's Houthi movement says it launched missiles at Abha airport in south-western Saudi Arabia, in response to air strikes on the runway of Sanaa's airport that it blamed on the kingdom.
The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government said its air defences "dealt with" the missiles and that no casualties were reported. The Houthis, who control north-western Yemen and are backed by Iran, earlier accused Saudi Arabia of "blatant aggression".
The strike was claimed by Yemen's government, which said it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. It marks the most significant escalation in the largely dormant Houthi-Saudi conflict since an informal truce took effect four years ago.
Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The fighting has left more than 150,000 dead and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with over 22 million people in need of aid, according to the UN.
Footage on social media showed plumes of smoke above Sanaa after the strikes. The Houthis' al-Masirah TV said the departure and landing runways were targeted. The Yemeni defence ministry said the Houthis had blocked a national aircraft while insisting on letting an Iranian plane violate Yemeni territory.
At an emergency UN Security Council meeting, Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari warned that "Yemen and the wider region cannot afford another cycle of escalation" and urged all sides to negotiate under UN auspices. The UK condemned what it called "reckless Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia".