What the Houthis’ Escalating Attacks on Saudi Arabia and Aden Mean for the Region

The Houthi movement in Yemen has widened its attacks on Saudi Arabia and on Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, while fighting intensifies around the city of Taiz, Al Jazeera reported. The strikes have already hit air travel: Riyadh’s international airport said flights would resume on Sunday after a two-week closure.

Within hours of that announcement, a Houthi military spokesman warned that the airport was still unsafe and remained a military target, according to Al Jazeera.

What it means for air travel and civilians

Yemen’s Ministry of Transport said the Houthis targeted Aden international airport with two ballistic missiles on Saturday, calling it the fourth such attack this month. The ministry warned that the strikes threaten the safety of civil aviation and carry humanitarian and economic consequences for citizens who rely on the airport. Yemeni authorities said the coastguard headquarters and a second building were also hit.

Flightradar24 showed a plane taking off from Riyadh airport early on Sunday, heading to Jeddah, Al Jazeera reported.

Civilians are also caught up in the violence. Yemen’s army said a Houthi missile malfunctioned and fell on a family home in Houthi-held Sanaa on Friday, killing three people. The army said the Iran-backed group had seen several such malfunctions in recent weeks. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said Saudi-led coalition air attacks killed several civilians in Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah. Al Jazeera said that claim could not be verified, and Saudi Arabia has not commented.

The attacks on Saudi Arabia

The Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday that air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile that the Houthis launched toward Riyadh. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said the group had fired two ballistic missiles toward Mecca and Medina and warned of falling shrapnel after their interception.

The Houthis rejected that account, calling it a huge lie. They said their targets were three Saudi airports, oil infrastructure and an airbase. The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, condemned the attacks as showing a blatant disregard for the lives and security of civilians.

Al Jazeera said the Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi energy infrastructure and airports with long-range weapons since a fragile ceasefire agreed in 2022 collapsed in July.

Fighting around Taiz

On the ground, the Houthis are battling forces of the internationally recognized government for control of key areas. A Yemeni army spokesman, Col. Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, said government forces carried out more than 700 targeting operations across the country in 24 hours and neutralized 300 Houthi fighters. Al Jazeera said it could not independently verify those figures.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that the Houthis were attacking Taiz from the western, eastern and southern fronts and trying to advance from the west toward the city in an effort to capture it. Government forces, backed by fighters from the Popular Resistance group, have pushed back attacks from the eastern front.

Why the U.S. role is drawing attention

Saudi Arabia has asked numerous allies for help, DW reported. Media reports say President Donald Trump refused a request from Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman for direct U.S. military action against the Houthis. The United States is, however, giving Saudi Arabia intelligence, including an artificial intelligence targeting tool, DW said.

DW cited a September CNN report, based on unnamed American officials, that between 100 and 200 U.S. soldiers were in Saudi Arabia as part of a new joint force command to support the effort. Officials said the tool resembles the Maven Smart System, which the U.S. military has used to find targets in Iran, Iraq and Syria.

DW noted that military campaigns by Saudi Arabia, the United States and others against the Houthis have so far failed to weaken the group significantly. It also pointed to possible limits of the technology in Yemen, where the Houthis are highly mobile and operate from hills and canyons, and to ethical concerns about shortening the time between spotting and striking a target.

The sources do not report any scheduled talks or decisions. For now, the picture is of a conflict that has spread from Yemen’s front lines to Saudi airports and cities, with air travel in and out of the Saudi capital again in question.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera, DW