Yemen truce shatters as Houthis fire missiles at Saudi Arabia after airport strike

Houthi rebels on Monday fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport after Yemen government bombed the runway at Sanaa International Airport to stop a plane carrying a Houthi delegation from Iran.

The attacks marked the end of a four-year period of relative calm between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed rebel group. They were the first strikes claimed by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia since an informal truce came into effect in March 2022 after Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure.Earlier in the day, the Houthis, who control northern Yemen, accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport.

Calling the strikes "blatant aggression", the group declared that the period of de-escalation had ended and vowed retaliation.

The strikes on Sanaa airport were claimed by Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is heavily backed by Saudi Arabia and whose leadership is based in Riyadh.The Yemeni government's defence ministry said the runway at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing in violation of Yemen's sovereignty.

It said government forces would respond to any hostile aircraft violating Yemen's airspace "by all available means" and held Iran responsible.An armed forces spokesperson later said the Iranian aircraft had instead landed at the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport on Yemen's Red Sea coast. It remained unclear whether any attempt had been made to stop the aircraft from landing there.In response, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia's southern Asir province, which borders Yemen.Saudi Arabia said it intercepted missiles launched by what it called the "terrorist Houthi militia" towards the country's southern region, according to a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.In a video statement posted on Telegram, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree also warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace until what he described as the blockade on Sanaa International Airport was lifted.

The Houthis similarly warned that Saudi airspace would remain unsafe until the "siege" on Sanaa airport ended.Monday's violence threatens to reignite conflict along Saudi Arabia's southern border after months of relative calm. It also raises concerns over the security of Red Sea shipping routes, which the Houthis have repeatedly targeted in the past.Saudi Arabia has largely been able to continue oil exports during previous regional conflicts by using an east-to-west pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.

However, a renewed confrontation with the Houthis could pose fresh risks to maritime trade in the Red Sea.Another Yemeni minister accused the Houthis of detaining an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) aircraft at Sanaa airport. ICRC Middle East spokesperson Hachem Osseiran told Reuters that all staff and crew aboard the aircraft were safe and accounted for, declining to comment further.The escalation comes days after an ICRC-mediated prisoner exchange between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government collapsed, with both sides blaming each other.Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for over a decade after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognised government to relocate to the south.Saudi Arabia led a military coalition that intervened against the Houthis in 2015, triggering what the United Nations has described as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.Violence flared again late last year after a UAE-backed separatist movement swept through parts of southern Yemen, further splintering the anti-Houthi coalition.Despite these tensions, the 2022 truce between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had largely held, even as the rebels launched attacks on Red Sea shipping during the Israel-Gaza war and amid the broader regional conflict involving Iran.