Houthi Strikes Wound Three at Saudi Airports as Yemen War Escalates

Saudi Arabia has confirmed that three people were injured when projectiles struck two airports in the country's southwest, an attack that Riyadh's aviation authority attributed to Yemen's Houthi movement and that has sharply raised tensions along the kingdom's southern frontier.

The strikes hit King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Airport in Jazan and Najran Airport on Monday evening, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority. The authority described the injuries as minor and said the attacks also caused material damage to the facilities.

In its initial account, the Saudi aviation regulator said the incident left three people with "minor injuries" alongside physical damage to infrastructure. It later clarified that those hurt had suffered wounds of "varying severity" and had been transported to hospital for treatment.

"Specialised teams dealt with the attacks immediately upon their occurrence," the authority said, adding that damage assessments were continuing and that protective measures were being put in place for passengers and airport staff.

The Houthis, an armed group that also calls itself Ansar Allah, claimed responsibility late on Monday, saying their forces had targeted sites across southern Saudi Arabia. In their statement, the group said the operation included airports as well as military installations.

The dual strikes mark one of the most direct challenges to Saudi civilian infrastructure in recent months and come at a moment when the broader Yemen conflict is intensifying on multiple fronts. Jazan and Najran sit close to the Yemeni border, making them particularly exposed to cross-border projectile fire.

Regional reaction was swift. Jasim al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, described the targeting of airports and civilian facilities as "a dangerous escalation" and called on the international community to adopt a "firm stance against these attacks."

Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also weighed in, condemning what it called the Iran-aligned group's "continued brazen and disgraceful attacks" on Saudi Arabia. The Kuwaiti statement accused the Houthis of deliberately targeting civilians and economic installations, framing the strikes as part of a pattern rather than an isolated incident.

The attacks unfolded against a backdrop of renewed large-scale fighting inside Yemen, where forces loyal to the internationally recognised government — backed by a Saudi-led coalition — are pressing a counteroffensive against Houthi positions. The Houthis have controlled the capital, Sanaa, since 2014, when they overran the city and much of northern Yemen.

Early on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed a ballistic missile launch platform in Sanaa. It also reported striking a storage facility in Saada, a Houthi stronghold in the country's north, which it said contained 20 ballistic missiles. The claims were carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Those announcements followed the launch of a government-aligned counteroffensive aimed at retaking territory the Houthis captured last month. Yemeni government-aligned forces say they have recaptured the Red Sea port city of Mocha and now control the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint through which a substantial share of global maritime trade passes.

The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed it is taking part in the offensive, saying 100 of its fighter jets are providing air support. Coalition officials also said Saudi naval forces have launched an operation against the Houthis in Hodeidah governorate, another key Red Sea province long contested by the warring parties.

Fernando Carvajal, a former United Nations Security Council adviser on Yemen, told Al Jazeera that Mocha would be pivotal to the next phase of the fighting. He said government forces must first demonstrate they can hold the city — which he described as "surrounded by Houthis from all three sides" — before they can use it as a staging ground for further advances.

Diplomatic and military activity is also accelerating beyond Yemen's borders. Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to activate "deterrence measures" under a mutual defence pact and to rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter Houthi attacks.

Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's defence minister, announced the decision in a social media post, saying the committee had agreed to activate collective deterrence measures within the framework of the alliance "in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them." He said the alliance had "reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries, in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom, and holy sites."

Carvajal cautioned that the practical value of that support remains uncertain. He suggested Pakistan might attempt to mediate between the warring sides, but noted that the Houthis would likely insist on talking only to the Saudis — a dynamic that would leave Yemen's internationally recognised government sidelined from any negotiations.

For Saudi Arabia, the airport strikes underline the persistent security risks along its southern border despite years of coalition operations. The kingdom's aviation authority has pledged to keep evaluating the damage and to maintain safeguards for travellers and employees, while the wider conflict shows few signs of winding down.