Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of striking Yemen’s Sanaa airport, vow retaliation
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Smoke rises after an airstrike hit the Sanaa International Airport, as seen from Sanaa, Yemen, on Jul 13, 2026. (Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Monday (Jul 13) of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks “blatant aggression” and said they had ended a period of de-escalation in the long-running conflict. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered.
The Saudi government’s communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.
Earlier on Monday, the defence ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognised government said its armed forces had targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. A spokesman for Yemen’s armed forces said the aircraft landed safely at Hodeidah airport, a Houthi-controlled facility.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
The government, which operates from the southern port of Aden, has the backing of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Yemen has faced civil war and proxy warfare from outside powers for more than a decade, since the Houthis seized the capital and forced the internationally recognised government to relocate to the south.
After years of fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis that triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, a 2022 truce has largely held, despite regional escalation tied to the Israel-Gaza war that saw the Houthis fire on Red Sea shipping, as well as the Iran conflict.
Yemen’s more than decade-long civil war flared up last year after a United Arab Emirates-backed separatist movement swept through territory in the south, splintering the Saudi-led coalition that was created to fight the Houthi group.
Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, the information minister in the internationally recognised government, said the Houthis were detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport and holding its pilot and co-pilot.
Earlier on Monday, the government’s defence minister had said it 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.
Source: Reuters/ec
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
