Fresh round of Yemen's Houthi attacks targeting "Saudi forces" hits airport area as Iran denies allegations
Aden, Yemen - Two missiles landed Friday within the perimeter of the airport in the Yemeni city of Aden, the interim capital of the Saudi-backed government, authorities said, with the Yemen Houthis claiming the attack, while Iran slams allegations it has anything to do with the group's attacks.
The Houthis are fighting both Yemen's internationally recognized government and its Saudi allies.
In a statement attributed to a military source, the Houthis said an attack targeted "the Saudi forces' command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province" as well as a weapons depot.
Iran on Friday denied having anything to do with attacks by Yemen's Houthis, a day after Saudi Arabia accused it of having encouraged the group's recent escalation against the kingdom.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects any claim that Iran has played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement.
An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions from the vicinity of the airport, but was not in a position to confirm what precisely had been hit.
The Yemeni information ministry said in a statement that a Yemenia Airways flight from Aden to Cairo narrowly missed being struck.
It was "preparing for takeoff at the very moment when the terrorist Houthi militia targeted the airport with two missiles that landed approximately 500 metres from the aircraft and about 100 metres from the centre of the runway," a statement said.
"What occurred was not merely an assault on a civilian airport, but a direct threat to the lives of passengers and flight crews, to aviation safety, and a grave violation of international laws and norms."
The Aden Capital Security Department said in a statement "that two rockets launched by the Houthi movement landed inside the Aden International Airport complex, in the second incident of its kind in less than a week."
"According to preliminary information, no loss of life was recorded as a result of the incident."
Cover photo: SAUDI MEDIA MINISTRY / AFP