Circuit Wire — a daily news update from The Circuit.
Yemen's internationally recognised government struck the runway at Sanaa International Airport on July 13 to stop an Iranian aircraft from landing, an attack the Houthis blamed on Saudi Arabia. The government said the Houthi militia had insisted the Iranian aircraft violate Yemeni airspace, so it targeted the runway.
The Defence Ministry told civilians, aid workers and diplomatic staff to leave the airport and its surroundings before the strike. The Houthis vowed to respond, with spokesman Yahya Saree saying the "aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished." The group later said it struck Saudi Arabia's Abha airport with missiles and drones in retaliation, and warned airlines to avoid Saudi airspace.
The Houthis declared an end to the "de-escalation phase" of Yemen's civil war. Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam called the Sanaa strike a grave breach of the 2022 ceasefire that had largely frozen the conflict. Earlier this month, the group accused the kingdom of attacking an Iranian plane in Sanaa and threatened to hit "Saudi airports and vital interests on land and sea."
An Iranian aircraft carrying an official delegation from Tehran, said to include medical patients and stranded citizens, later landed at Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast. Yemen's information minister said the Houthis detained an International Committee of the Red Cross aircraft at Sanaa and held its two crew. The ICRC said all its staff and crew were safe.
UN special envoy Hans Grundberg urged both sides to avoid a new cycle of violence. The Saudi-led coalition first intervened in Yemen in 2015, and a UN-backed truce in 2022 had reduced large-scale fighting.
The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel within 10km of the Saudi-Yemen border and against all but essential travel between 10km and 80km of it. Its Saudi guidance notes the last attack on Abha airport, in 2022, caused multiple civilian injuries and one death. It also warns that travel insurance may be invalidated for journeys made against its advice.
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