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Saudi aviation authority reports severe injuries and damage following Houthi strikes on Jazan and Najran airports.
Saudi Arabia says three people have been wounded in attacks on two airports near the Yemen border.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz airport in Jazan and Najran airport were hit in the attacks on Monday evening, Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement on Tuesday.
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“The attacks resulted in three minor injuries and material damage,” it said.
Yemen’s Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), said late on Monday that their forces targeted sites across southern Saudi Arabia, including airports and military sites.
The attacks caused injuries of “varying severity” and material damage, and the injured have been taken to hospital, the Saudi civil aviation authority said.
“Specialised teams dealt with the attacks immediately upon their occurrence,” the authority said, adding that it will continue to assess the damage and is taking measures to protect passengers and staff.
Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jassim al-Budaiwi called attacks on airports and civilian facilities “a dangerous escalation”, and urged the international community to take a “firm stance against these attacks”.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the Iran-aligned group’s “continued brazen and disgraceful attacks” on Saudi Arabia, accusing it of targeting civilians and economic facilities.
Fighting escalates
The attacks on Saudi airports come amid an escalation in fighting in Yemen, where forces loyal to the internationally recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia, are battling the Houthis.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early on Tuesday that it destroyed a ballistic missile launch platform in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, which the Houthis have controlled since 2014.
It also said it destroyed a storage facility in Saada that had 20 ballistic missiles, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The announcements came after forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government launched a counteroffensive to retake territory the Iran-aligned Houthis captured last month. The Yemeni government-aligned forces said they have retaken the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea and are now in control of the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.
The Saudi-led coalition has confirmed its participation in the Yemeni government offensive, saying 100 of its fighter jets are providing air support. Saudi naval forces have also launched an operation against the Houthis in Hodeidah governorate, the coalition said.
Fernando Carvajal, a former United Nations Security Council adviser on Yemen, told Al Jazeera that Mocha would be key to the next phase of clashes.
He said government forces will have to prove that they can hold on to the city, which is “surrounded by Houthis from all three sides”, before using it as a staging point.
Meanwhile, Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under a mutual defence pact and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter Houthi attacks.
“The committee agreed to activate collective deterrence measures, within the framework of the Alliance, in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them,” Khalid bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s defence minister, said in a social media post.
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 said it remains unclear what practical support they will provide. He said Pakistan might try to mediate between the warring sides, but that the Houthis would likely only want to talk to the Saudis, which would leave the Yemeni government excluded.
