SANAA/RIYADH – Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen's capital Sanaa on Monday morning as the Houthi group claimed new missile and drone attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and southern Yemen.
The Houthi-run media outlet Al-Masirah TV reported the airstrikes were "Saudi aggression" against Sanaa. Local residents told Xinhua they heard loud explosions across the city. Details about the locations hit, casualties and damage were not immediately available.
The airstrikes came amid an intensifying exchange of attacks between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, who control the capital and large swathes of Yemeni territory.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in two statements posted on social media platform X early Monday that the group launched a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
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The missile "accurately" struck the airport, Sarea said, adding that Houthi forces also launched several drones targeting crude oil pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, and achieved "accurate hits." Saudi authorities have not immediately commented on the claims.
In a separate statement, Sarea said the Houthis have carried out two operations targeting military gatherings and weapons depots belonging to forces backed by Saudi Arabia in the Salah al-Din area of Aden in southern Yemen and the al-Waht area in neighboring Lahj province.
Several ballistic missiles were used in the attacks, he said, noting that they caused dozens of casualties and destroyed or set fire to military vehicles and weapons depots.
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The latest developments came amid an escalating confrontation between the Houthis and forces of Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
The escalation has involved renewed coalition airstrikes on Houthi-held areas and Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting locations deep inside Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country's north. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.
Houthi missile-storage tunnels destroyed
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday that it has carried out a "qualitative military operation" targeting Houthi threats in Yemen, in response to repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia.
In a post on the social platform X, Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said that the operation has destroyed or neutralized several military targets in areas controlled by the Houthi group, including five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchers and a missile-storage facility.
The operation also targeted Houthi supply lines linking areas under the group's control, as well as fortifications, personnel and military equipment along front lines inside Yemen, Al-Maliki added.
He said the coalition would continue taking deterrent military measures against the Houthis to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
