{"id":838390,"date":"2026-10-28T20:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838390"},"modified":"2026-10-28T19:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T23:46:21","slug":"houthi-missile-hits-aden-airport-grounds-before-group-orders-evacuation-police-source-tells-afp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838390","title":{"rendered":"Houthi missile hits Aden airport grounds before group orders evacuation, police source tells AFP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Schoolchildren<\/figure>\n

Students shelter in a school corridor in Khor Maksar, Aden, after a missile fell at Aden International Airport, October 28, 2026. Photo: video still from South24 via X<\/em><\/p>\n

A Houthi missile fell inside the grounds of Aden airport on Wednesday shortly before the group ordered the airport evacuated, saying a Saudi military cargo plane there was carrying weapons, a police source told AFP.<\/p>\n

In a short statement on X on Wednesday morning, Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said "our armed forces call on those present at Aden airport to evacuate the airport immediately, because of the presence of a military cargo plane belonging to the Saudi enemy that is transporting weapons to kill the sons of the Yemeni people." About 90 minutes later he repeated the call, saying it was "for the last time."<\/p>\n

A source in the Aden police told AFP that two missiles struck two sites near the airport, and a second police official said another attack targeted an area under Saudi forces' control inside the airport perimeter. Residents and local sources said a ballistic missile fell inside the airport grounds and that columns of smoke rose over the city, according to the Yemeni news site AIJES. Residents told Reuters they heard explosions before the Houthi warning. Government forces spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nuzaily said on X that two ballistic missiles struck the airport perimeter, wounding civilians and causing damage, in what he called the sixth such attack on the airport. He did not say how many people were hurt, Al Arabiya reported. Air traffic was halted after the strike, two Transport Ministry officials told Reuters. An aid source said some UN staff left the airport shortly before the attack and no one among them was hurt.<\/p>\n

The Saudi aircraft was not hit and later took off, AFP reported, citing its source. Yemen's Transport Ministry condemned what it called the sixth Houthi attack on Aden airport in a matter of days, saying the strikes threaten civil aviation, Arab News reported. There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities, AFP said.<\/p>\n

The fear was felt in classrooms. The Aden based outlet South24 posted video showing students at a school in Khor Maksar, the district that surrounds the airport, crouching on the floor of a corridor with their backpacks, some covering their ears. It described "moments of fear and terror" after the missile fell and exploded at the airport.<\/p>\n

The account @RedMarkar said explosions shook the airport again minutes after Saree's "last time" call.<\/p>\n

Some accounts on X repeated the group's claim. "The Saudi enemy has turned Aden airport into a military barracks and a launching point for transporting weapons to its mercenaries to kill the Yemeni people," the account @slem7071 wrote in Arabic and English. Another account, @lmd1667261, posted video it said showed a Saudi military transport plane landing at Aden "for the tenth time." Mereja could not verify the claims about the plane or its cargo.<\/p>\n

Critics of the Houthis pointed to the contradiction. "He demands the opening of Sanaa airport, and bombs Aden airport," wrote the Yemeni user @Alshathli2.<\/p>\n

Aden is the temporary capital of the Government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, and its airport is one of the main links between Yemen and the outside world for travelers, patients and aid workers.<\/p>\n

The attack is part of a sharp escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

The Houthis also accuse Saudi Arabia of deadly strikes inside Yemen. Al Masirah television said strikes it blamed on Saudi Arabia killed 14 people and wounded 15 at a market and petrol station in Jawf province, AFP reported. That figure could not be independently confirmed.<\/p>\n

The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and much of northern Yemen since 2014. A Saudi led coalition intervened in 2015 to restore the Government, and the war has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions dependent on aid, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n