This image taken from video broadcast by Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled news channel, shows an explosion at the Sanaa International Airport compound during what the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said were several Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday, July 13, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
Yemen’s internationally-recognised government said it struck Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport on Monday (July 13, 2026), its biggest flare-up in years with the rebels, who blamed the authorities’ Saudi backers for the attack and threatened retaliation.
The government said it had wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the capital, after failing to convince a Houthi delegation that went to Tehran for the late Iranian Supreme Leader’s funeral to board a Yemenia flight instead.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of “ending the de-escalation phase” and warned that “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished”.
The latest escalation threatens to unravel a truce that has been holding since 2022 despite expiring, and comes at a time of heightened tensions as the United States and Iran trade attacks impacting the Gulf and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen’s Defence ministry accused the Houthis of “allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted”.
Published – July 13, 2026 11:08 pm IST
