RIYADH - Saudi Arabia said on Friday that three people including a pilot were killed in attacks on Riyadh international airport the day before when Yemen's Houthis claimed hits on the facility.
Houthi media reported on Friday that Saudi attacks on Sanaa airport killed two people, while the civil defence agency in the Yemeni capital reported extinguishing fires caused by Saudi strikes, including one that it said destroyed a factory.
The conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government, supported by Saudi Arabia, surged in July, and has since spilled over into the neighbouring kingdom.
In addition to seizing territory along the Red Sea coast in Yemen, the Houthis have attacked transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian targets in the world's largest crude exporter with drones and missiles.
The Saudi civil aviation authority said two attacks on Thursday on Riyadh airport and a Saudia airlines plane had "resulted in the martyrdom of three citizens".
The national carrier confirmed the death of the aircraft's captain.
The attacks on the Saudi capital forced diplomats stationed there to shelter in place and international schools to take safety measures, as explosions echoed across the city on Thursday.
Numerous flights at Riyadh airport were delayed or cancelled, and the civil defence agency said missile "interception debris" had damaged a kindergarten and a medical complex in the city.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Friday appeared to suggest that planes would need to seek the group's permission to fly in or out of Riyadh.
"Humanitarian flights to and from Riyadh Airport will be permitted for all flights authorised" by a Houthi coordinating body in Sanaa, he wrote on X.
- 'Advances are limited' -
Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government forces it supports have struggled to reverse the Houthis' advance, despite a counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory including the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait, which is crucial to global shipping.
While a Saudi diplomat said on Friday that Saudi-backed forces had retaken the area, a military source on the ground gave a conflicting account, saying fighting was ongoing.
The Yemeni military source told AFP that government forces had launched a "major operation" in the strait region, supported by Saudi air power, but added that "fighting is fierce and advances are limited".
Houthi-affiliated media, meanwhile, said an attack by government forces south of the strait had been repelled.
A regional source told AFP on Friday that Saudi Arabia would not bow to the Houthis' "military blackmail" and would not agree to a truce until the Yemeni government regained all the territory it lost in recent weeks.
The Houthis' Al-Massirah TV channel reported fresh Saudi strikes on Sanaa, shortly after a large demonstration in support of the group in the city.
The raids targeted military positions far from residential neighbourhoods, according to an AFP correspondent.
The Houthis, whose heartlands are among the Zaidi Shia Muslims in the northwest, had already controlled the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen's major population centres since the start of the war in 2014.
Riyadh's military coalition intervened to support the government the following year.
- Evacuation warning -
After declaring the start of their counter-offensive against the Houthis, Yemen's government claimed to have pushed the fighters out of strategic areas on the Red Sea coast and the port city of Mocha.
But the Houthis insist they are holding their territory, and military sources from both sides contacted by AFP have not reported any major changes on the ground.
The Houthis have warned workers to evacuate Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, having days before hit a major refinery south of the capital.
Admissions by Saudi authorities of civilian targets being hit are relatively rare. There have been few statements on Houthi attacks in recent weeks.
Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast and access for journalists difficult.
In Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, ordinary civilians are paying the price for the renewed fighting, with more than 200,000 people displaced since July, according to UN data.
By Afp Teams In Saudi Arabia, Yemen And The UAE
Article by AFP