Three wounded in Saudi airport attacks as Yemen fighting intensifies

At least three people were wounded in attacks on airports in southern Saudi Arabia as fighting intensified between Yemen's Houthi movement and forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said the attacks on Jazan and Najran airports, both near the border with Yemen, caused minor injuries and property damage. The authority said it was assessing the damage at King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Airport and Najran International Airport and taking measures to ensure the safety of passengers and staff.

Yemen's Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, said late Monday that their forces had targeted several locations across southern Saudi Arabia, including airports and military installations. The cross-border attacks came as Yemen's internationally recognised government launched a major counteroffensive against Houthi forces inside Yemen.

Government forces said Monday they had recaptured the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha, along with key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the world's most important maritime shipping routes. Yemen's government military said its forces took control of Mocha following fierce fighting, adding that several Houthi fighters were killed or wounded. The Houthis disputed the claim and denied losing control of Mocha. Independent verification of the competing battlefield claims was not immediately available.

Government forces also announced what they described as a strategic offensive aimed at Sanaa, Yemen's capital, which has been under Houthi control since 2014. The Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognised government said it had launched a new air campaign. Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki said about 100 fighter jets were supporting Yemeni government forces and providing air cover around the Bab al-Mandeb strait. He claimed hundreds of Houthi targets had been destroyed. The extent of the damage could not immediately be independently verified.

The escalating fighting and renewed attacks inside Saudi Arabia raise concerns about a broader regional confrontation and further disruption around the Bab al-Mandeb, a critical shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean. For civilians, the immediate facts are plainer: airports that should be places of departure have become targets, and a port city whose name most travellers never learn may again decide how safely ships pass between continents.