Houthis Accuse Saudi Arabia of Sanaa Airport Strike, Vow Retaliation

The Houthi movement, which controls northern Yemen, has accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes against Sanaa International Airport. The group labeled the attacks on Monday as "blatant aggression" and declared that this action has ended a period of de-escalation in the protracted conflict. In a statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree asserted that Saudi Arabia would face the repercussions of the strikes and that the attack would not be left unaddressed. As of the report, Saudi Arabia had not issued an immediate response to these accusations. Earlier on Monday, Yemen's internationally recognized government, operating from the southern port of Aden, announced that its armed forces had targeted the runway at Sanaa International Airport. The government stated its objective was to prevent an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from landing. Moammar bin Mutahar Al-Eryan, the information minister for the recognized government, also accused the Houthis of detaining an aircraft belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Sanaa airport, along with its pilot and co-pilot. The government's defense minister had previously indicated that diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran and the Houthis to cease what he described as Iranian aircraft violating Yemeni airspace had been exhausted. He warned that government forces would respond to any hostile aircraft breaching Yemen's airspace "by all available means" and held Iran responsible for such actions. Yemen has been embroiled in civil war and proxy conflicts involving external powers for over a decade, following the Houthi seizure of the capital and the subsequent relocation of the internationally recognized government to the south. The government in Aden continues to receive backing from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

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Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered.