Yemen: At least 3 wounded in Huthis attacks on Saudi airports

O in a press release published on social media, the attacks reached Jizan and Najran airports, resulting in three minor injuries and material damage.

“ The emergency teams and competent authorities responded immediately to the incidents in accordance with established procedures and plans,” the statement states, adding that the GACA is working to assess the damage and “guarantee the safety of passengers and employees” on the premises.

On Monday night, Yemeni political and armed group Huthis, which is supported by Iran, claimed responsibility for several attacks on military and economic targets in Saudi Arabia, namely the Riyadh International Airport, a refinery of Saudi giant Aramco and various military infrastructure.

The attack aimed to retaliate for Saudi air strikes against Yemen, launched to support the offensive of government troops against the rebels.

The coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen had announced that it had attacked “military targets” in al-Hudaydah, an important port of the Red Sea controlled by the Huthis.

The troops of the internationally recognized authorities activated on Sunday a large-scale offensive to retake territories recently conquered by the Huthis and advance towards the capital, Sanaa, controlled by the rebels since 2014.

The Huthis launched an offensive on September 3 in parts of the Taiz and Hodeida provinces, gaining significant territorial gains, including the conquest of the city of Moca and the area around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, whose strategic importance increased with the blockade of the Ormuz Strait by Iran and became an essential route for the transport of hydrocarbons.

These achievements represented a rude blow to the internationally recognized authorities, who on Monday claimed to have regained control of these areas.

The hostilities between Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, and Huthis fighters, who rule much of Yemen a decade ago, were resumed in July after years of relative calm, opening a new front in the Middle East war.

After a lightning offensive in September, the Huthis took control of the entire western coast of Yemen, bathed by the Red Sea, and since then have regularly attacked the oil and military facilities of the neighboring kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces, fighting to repel the Huthis attacks, have repeatedly called for international support, particularly from the United States, so far without success.

After a meeting in Riyadh, Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia agreed to “immediately activate the mutual defense agreement” signed in August at Mecca, and “take the necessary measures to provide the agreed military forces and resources and deploy them quickly in the kingdom,” according to a joint statement by the three countries.

The text does not directly mention the Huthis pro-Iran, but “condemns, in the strongest terms”, the attacks on the sacred cities of Medina and Mecca and “the continuous attacks on the cities and civil and economic infrastructure of the country”.

This is the first time that this agreement, which unites NATO's second largest army (Turkey), the main power of the Gulf (Saudi Arabia) and the only nuclear power of the Muslim world (Pakistan), has been implemented.