Yemen evacuates Aden airport after Houthi warning, with missiles reported on the runway

Evacuation order and missile reports at Aden

Yemen's internationally recognized government emptied the international airport in Aden on Wednesday, 28 October, after Houthi rebels ordered everyone on the site to leave immediately. Airport authorities told EFE that at least two missiles hit the facility, and anonymous civil aviation sources said the projectiles struck the runway while damage was still being assessed. A police source told AFP a different version: one Houthi missile fell inside the airport perimeter shortly before the warning, while a Saudi military aircraft at the airport was not hit and left soon afterward. Civil aviation sources said all passengers, workers and people near the airport were taken away after the call. The airport is now closed and flights are diverted to Djibouti until further notice. Residents told Reuters that explosions were heard in Aden before the warning.

Houthi claims and the Saudi role

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree issued the evacuation call in a post that some reports place on X and others on Telegram. He said the order was prompted by a Saudi military cargo plane carrying weapons it claimed were meant to kill Yemenis. The Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of using the airport to bring arms to government forces, and Saudi authorities had made no immediate comment. Saudi Arabia has intervened militarily in Yemen since 2015, leading a coalition that supports the government based in Aden. The rebels, who have controlled Sanaa since 2014, call Riyadh's control of airspace over their territory a 'blockade' and a 'violation of sovereignty'. According to EFE, Aden and Sayoun airport in Hadramaut are the only civilian entry and exit points, linking Yemen to regional destinations for medical, educational and family reasons.

Escalation since July

The fighting resumed in July, when an Iranian aircraft landed in Sanaa despite Riyadh's control of the skies and the 2022 truce came apart. The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa airport to block that landing, an attack claimed by the forces involved in the operation but not officially acknowledged by Riyadh. The rebels then declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, hit its vessels, land targets and oil installations, and seized government-held coastline along the Red Sea. The Houthis say they face frequent Saudi airstrikes in return. The Yemen fighting is part of a wider Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

Attacks on Aden have been repeated. A police source told AFP on Saturday, 24 October, that the Houthis targeted a Saudi coalition military position near the airport, which had also been targeted the previous week. Two missiles landed inside the airport perimeter earlier in October, a day following a fatal strike on the presidential palace in Aden. In the days before 28 October, dozens of attacks, mostly with ballistic missiles, targeted Aden and its airport.

Casualties and the airport's status

Houthi broadcaster Almasirah reported 14 dead and 10 wounded in a preliminary toll from attacks the rebels blame on Saudi Arabia. The strikes hit a market and a petrol station in the northwestern Jawf province, and the toll includes women and children. No independent count appears in the reporting, and the figures are preliminary.

Dead14

Wounded10

Dead

14 people

Wounded

10 people

Data from the article text

Riyadh had not commented, and no source has confirmed what the Saudi aircraft was carrying. Damage to the runway is still being assessed, and the airport remains closed without a reopening date. Reports note that a shutdown of Aden's airport could worsen transport and supply problems in a country deeply affected by years of war.