Cross-border attacks struck two civil aviation hubs in southern Saudi Arabia, leaving three people injured and inflicting structural damage on regional terminal facilities, aviation officials confirmed Tuesday. The General Authority of Civil Aviation said the strikes targeted King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jazan alongside Najran International Airport near the Yemeni frontier. Emergency services mobilized immediately to transfer the wounded to nearby medical facilities, while safety teams initiated comprehensive damage assessments across runways and operational buildings.
The Saudi-led military coalition responded by launching punitive air raids across northern Yemen.
Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Malki reported that air defense batteries successfully engaged and neutralized an incoming ballistic missile directed at the city of Khamis Mushait. The airborne escalation coincided with ground operations in western Yemen, where forces aligned with the internationally recognized government recaptured the Red Sea port city of Mocha. Yemeni military commanders announced a broad counteroffensive aimed at clearing Houthi strongholds flanking the strategic Bab al-Mandeb maritime corridor.
Heavy fighting around the southern governorate of Taiz has trapped thousands of noncombatants.
In a statement broadcast by the Houthi-aligned Saba news outlet, insurgent commanders claimed that Brigadier General Abdulrahman Al-Shamsani, who led the Yemeni government’s 35th Armoured Brigade, was killed during close-quarters combat inside Taiz province. Military monitors are assessing casualty figures as frontline positions shift rapidly across the rugged district. Humanitarian agencies warned that the latest round of shelling has severely disrupted supply routes, stranding residents and worsening regional civilian displacement.
The 22-member Arab League issued a formal statement denouncing the attacks against the Saudi airports as a direct infringement on the kingdom’s territorial sovereignty. The Cairo-based bloc underscored that targeting commercial facilities places civilian travelers and flight crews under intolerable risk, while reiterating its diplomatic backing for Yemen’s legitimate authorities.
Regional military forces remain on elevated alert as operations continue across the border.
