Saudi Arabia Strikes Sanaa Airport in Retaliation for Riyadh Airport Attack
Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport and other Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on October 11, a day after a Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and injured 309. The retaliation marks a further escalation in a regional conflict that has increasingly drawn Yemen into the crossfire.
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In a Nutshell
- In response to the Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on October 10 that killed 12 people and injured 309, Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes on Sanaa International Airport and other Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on October 11.
- The Riyadh attack killed four Saudis and two Bangladeshis, along with one person each from the US, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan. Four more Bangladeshis were in intensive care, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said.
- Operations at Riyadh airport were suspended after the strike. Bangladesh has now lost 14 nationals in the wider West Asia conflict, according to Shama Obaed Islam, while nearly 800 flights from Bangladesh to the region have been cancelled since the war began.
- Saudi-led coalition forces had previously promised a response when condemning the Houthi-led airport attacks.
- Saudi Arabia carried out its counter airstrikes in seven separate attacks on Yemen’s Harf Sufyan district in Amran province, where damage includes a poultry farm and telecommunications infrastructure in Ibb province. A separate strike in central Sanaa injured six people, including a woman and a child.
- On condition of anonymity, a Yemeni military official said Saudi warplanes also struck Houthi reinforcements in Taiz province, leaving dozens of fighters dead or injured.
Context
The history of the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran’s ally, the Houthis, goes back to late 2014, when the latter seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north to challenge the government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Hadi had come to power in 2012 following a political transition triggered by the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which forced longtime president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened at the head of a military coalition to restore Hadi’s government after the Houthis advanced south and Hadi fled the country. Riyadh viewed the group’s growing control of Yemen, alongside its ties to Iran, as a threat to Saudi security and regional influence. The internationally recognised government later established its base in Aden, while the Houthis retained control of Sanaa and much of the north.
The latest escalation comes as the wider West Asia war, which began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, has spread across the region. The Houthis’ October 10 attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 12 people and injured 309, including two Bangladeshis. Saudi Arabia has now retaliated a day later by striking Houthi-controlled areas including Sanaa Airport.
Why It Matters
Saudi Arabia has delivered on its promise to take action by retaliating against the Houthis with counterstrikes. There have now been civilian casualties on both sides of the conflict. Yesterday’s Houthi attack on Riyadh’s airport killed 12 people and injured 309. As for Saudi Arabia’s strikes, Houthi-run media has so far reported six injuries, including a woman and a child, from the airstrike that hit the Bab Shu’ab neighbourhood in central Sanaa. The exact number of casualties from the wider Saudi air campaign has not yet been reported.
Several countries have condemned the Houthis' attack on Riyadh, with the US response being particularly significant given that Saudi Arabia is a key regional ally. The US has condemned the attack but has not taken any military action against the Houthis yet. Now that Saudi Arabia has retaliated, it remains to be seen what the next step will be from President Trump’s government.
What We Think
Saudi Arabia’s retaliation was expected, but the extent of its air campaign and the Houthis’ response will determine whether this remains a bilateral escalation or draws the US more directly into the fighting. With civilian casualties mounting on both sides, further retaliation could draw Yemen deeper into the US-Iran war and worsen the political instability further in the West Asian region.