Missiles Hit Aden Airport as Coalition Stops Missile Fired at Yanbu Oil Port

Updated 10:43 UTC on Saturday, October 17: The Houthis have now claimed the airport attack. In a statement reported by Agence France-Presse, a Houthi military source said the group targeted the Saudi forces command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province and a weapons depot there. Early on Saturday, Saudi Civil Defense issued an alert for Abha in the southwest, near the Yemeni border, then gave the all clear, Reuters reported. Houthi-affiliated media reported strikes east of Saada in northwestern Yemen, and the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in that area.

Two missiles landed inside Aden International Airport on Friday evening, October 16, as a passenger plane prepared to leave for Cairo. Airport police and Yemen's Transport Ministry said the missiles fell within the airport grounds and that no one was hurt.

The Transport Ministry said the first missile came down near the western gate, close to the runway, and the second fell to the northwest of the airport. Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the missiles landed about 500 metres from the Yemenia Airways aircraft. The plane, Yemenia flight IYE 612, was preparing to take off for Cairo and was evacuated. A second aircraft, Fly Aden flight QFF101, was on its way in from Cairo at the time.

Blame placed on the Houthis, no claim yet

The Aden Security Department blamed the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for the strike. Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is based in Aden, also blamed the Houthis. The Houthis had not claimed the attack when the first reports came out on Friday night.

Aden police said the airport is a lifeline for Yemenis who need to travel, including patients who fly abroad for treatment. The Transport Ministry said the strike put passengers and crews at risk and could disrupt civil aviation in the country. It called on the United Nations, international organisations and the International Civil Aviation Organization to condemn attacks on civilian airports.

The strike was the second attack on the airport in recent days, the Aden Security Department said. It came one day after missiles hit the al-Maashiq presidential palace complex in Aden on Thursday, October 15, killing five people.

Missiles and drones aimed at Saudi Arabia the same day

Hours earlier on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said it had stopped a wave of attacks aimed at Saudi Arabia. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki wrote on X that the coalition destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Yanbu, a Red Sea port city that handles Saudi oil exports. He said the coalition also destroyed two cruise missiles over the Red Sea and three drones in Saudi Arabia's southern region and in the Riyadh region.

Yanbu matters to oil markets because it lets Saudi Arabia ship crude from the Red Sea coast without sending tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude briefly touched 110 dollars a barrel on Friday, the first time it has reached that level since May, as traders weighed the attacks and the wider fighting.

Saudi Civil Defense authorities had issued alerts earlier on Friday in the Jazan region and in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait. Such alerts have become frequent since fighting resumed last month.

A wider war around Aden

Aden is the seat of Yemen's recognised government, which the Saudi-led coalition backs against the Houthis. The two sides have traded heavy strikes through October. Houthi attacks have hit Riyadh airport, Saudi oil sites and government buildings in Aden, and the coalition has answered with strikes in Yemen.

Aid agencies have warned that the renewed fighting is making Yemen's humanitarian crisis worse. For people in Aden, the war was back at the one airport many depend on to leave or reach medical care abroad. Officials said checks at the airport were continuing on Friday night.