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- 3 drones targeted Al-Rayyan airport in eastern Yemen, 1st such attack since military escalation resumed in July, local media reports, while Houthis also claim missile strike on Aden
UPDATES WITH ATTACK ON HADRAMOUT AIRPORT; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; ADDS DETAILS
By Ikram Kouachi, Serdar Dincel, and Mohammed Sami
SANAA, Yemen/ISTANBUL (AA) - Yemeni media reported Wednesday that Houthi rebels attacked Al-Rayyan International Airport in the eastern province of Hadramout with three drones, while the group also claimed a ballistic missile strike on Aden in the south.
The reported attack on Al-Rayyan airport in the city of Mukalla was the first since military escalation resumed in July, according to Anadolu’s correspondent.
The state-run Hadramout TV channel reported that the airport had come under a Houthi attack, saying three strikes targeted the runway and the airport’s electricity administration. No injuries had been reported at the time of the report.
The channel also broadcast footage that it said shows the airport being targeted.
While the channel did not specify the nature of the strikes, the privately owned Al-Masdar Online website reported that the airport had been attacked by three drones believed to belong to the Houthis.
The Houthis had not issued a statement on the reported attack.
Al-Rayyan is one of Yemen’s most important civilian airports, serving millions of people in Hadramout and other provinces.
Yemen TV reported airstrikes targeting Houthi positions east of the coastal city of Mokha but did not provide further details on the targets or any casualties.
Separately, the state-run Saba channel reported that the Houthis had targeted Aden International Airport in southern Yemen with a ballistic missile, without providing further details. Local residents told Anadolu they heard a loud explosion near the airport.
For their part, the Houthis also said they launched strikes on Yemen's Aden, the interim capital, using a ballistic missile. The group's spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed in a Telegram statement that the strike targeted "the Saudi operations room at the Badr camp in Aden."
Al-Jumhuriya TV, meanwhile, reported renewed heavy clashes between Yemeni armed forces and Houthi fighters at the old airport and around Mount Han, west of Taiz city.
The developments come amid the internationally recognized government's ongoing military offensive against the Houthis in southwestern Yemen.
On Tuesday, the Yemeni army said it had carried out 744 attacks against the group over 24 hours, neutralizing around 200 of its members and destroying or damaging 90 vehicles and other military assets.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several other provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.
The Houthis control much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.
Ikrame Imane Kouachi
