Yemeni armed forces say they have launched new missile and drone attacks on two Saudi airports in Riyadh and Dammam, as well as oil facilities belonging to Aramco.
Yemeni military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement on Sunday that the attacks had been carried out in response to ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen.
He said 124 airstrikes had targeted the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and the provinces of Ta’izz, Marib, al-Jawf, Hajjah, Hudaydah and Sa’ada during that period, bringing the total number of airstrikes since the aggression began to 2,058.
In response to the attacks, he said Yemeni forces had conducted four special operations over the previous 24 hours using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
The first operation targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in three waves beginning two nights earlier, disrupting air traffic and forcing the airport to shut down completely, he said.
The second and third operations targeted Aramco’s Shuqdam gas facility and Tanajib oil facility in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, respectively. Saree said both sites were hit accurately, triggering fires at the facilities.
The fourth operation targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, disrupting air traffic after a direct hit, he added.
Saree also announced a separate operation targeting gatherings of “Saudi enemy mercenaries” in the Ras al-Ara and al-Saqiya areas, using six ballistic missiles and two drones. He said the strikes hit their targets, leaving dozens dead or wounded.
He further said Yemeni armed forces had confronted several Saudi fighter jets using domestically produced surface-to-air missiles, forcing the aircraft to retreat.
Saree warned international companies, experts, workers and travelers against flying to Saudi airports, saying they were not safe.
He added that the warning did not apply to airports or airspace over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia confirms attack on Riyadh international airport
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s aviation authority confirmed that King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had come under a new attack on Sunday evening.
The incident followed an earlier missile strike targeting the airport on Saturday, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 others, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).
In a statement early Sunday, GACA said the dead included four Saudi citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, Palestine, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Sudan.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a military offensive against Yemen in March 2015, imposing a blockade and receiving military, political and logistical support from the United States and several Western countries.
The war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, while Riyadh has failed to achieve its stated objective of reinstating the government it backed in Sana’a.
Yemen’s Anasrullah has vowed that the country’s armed forces will continue escalating operations deep inside Saudi territory and upholding the equation of “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation” until the aggression against Yemen ends and the blockade is lifted.
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