Yemen conflict flares as Houthis fire at Saudi Arabia after Sanaa airport strike

SANAA: Yemen’s long-frozen conflict showed renewed signs of escalation on Monday after the Houthis targeted Saudi Arabia hours after accusing the kingdom of attacking Sanaa airport.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government said it was behind the strike on the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa. The stated aim was to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing there. The move followed an unsuccessful effort to persuade a Houthi delegation returning from Tehran, where it had attended the funeral of Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, to travel instead on Yemenia, the country’s domestic airline.

Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted the threat. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a social media post:

"Air defences dealt with a ballistic missile threat launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the southern region"

Before that, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree had accused Saudi Arabia of disrupting the existing period of reduced tensions and warned of retaliation. He said Saudi Arabia was "ending the de-escalation phase" and added that "this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished". The latest exchange marks the most serious flare-up in years between the two sides and raises the risk of undermining a truce that had largely held.