Yemeni Armed Forces Conduct Six Missile and Drone Operations Targeting King Khalid Airport, Aramco

Missiles and retaliation

Yemeni Armed Forces announced on Saturday that they carried out six military operations using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, targeting King Khalid International Airport, oil facilities in Riyadh, Khurais, and Al-Dawadmi, and Saudi military buildups in Najran, Al-Jawf, and Marib. The armed forces said the operations were conducted in response to Saudi attacks on Yemen, including a strike on vendors and shoppers at Al-Hadara Market in Al-Wazi’iyah District, Taiz Governorate on Friday morning that the statement said left dozens of civilians dead and wounded. The statement said the first operation targeted King Khalid International Airport, oil storage tanks, and a distillation tower belonging to Aramco in Riyadh, and it said the operation successfully achieved its objective.

The statement said the fourth operation targeted Saudi forces assembled at the National Guard camp in Najran, scoring a direct hit and leaving a large number of dead and wounded, and it said the fifth operation targeted Saudi military buildups east of Al-Jawf Governorate in three phases. The statement added that the armed forces vowed to continue operations deep inside Saudi territory and to uphold “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation.”

Reporting for this sectionAl-Manar TV Lebanon

Iran and Houthi demands

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ismail Qanuni said in a post that “Establishing peace in the Arabian Peninsula requires halting military strikes, respecting the Yemeni people's right to self-determination, ending the naval and air blockade on Yemen, and conducting dialogue” based on a roadmap agreed by Yemenis and Saudi Arabia. Qanuni also said the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to provide any assistance, and the ministry denied “the circulating claims about Iranian military experts in Yemen.” Major General Ibrahim Ali al-Haidan, the internationally recognized Yemeni Interior Minister, revealed in statements on Tuesday the presence of “twenty-one” foreign experts working with the Houthi terrorist militia, including “fourteen” experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and “seven” experts from the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization.

The Houthis demanded $51 billion from Saudi Arabia, in addition to official recognition as the ruling authority in Yemen, in exchange for stopping their attacks and reaching a settlement to end the war. Ansar Allah’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that Saudi claims of intercepting a missile over Medina “continue their great and enormous deception against our beloved Muslim people and their armed forces.”

Reporting for this sectionCNN ArabicEuronews

Bombing and the next moves

A 500-pound bomb supplied by the United States appeared to have been used in an Oct. 18 strike on the al-Qahm family’s home in northern Yemen, flattening it on top of at least 28 people.

Nine members of the al-Qahm family, including five children under the age of 10, were killed according to Mr. al-Qahm and his relative, Mohammed al-Qahm, who witnessed the strike.

Euronews said the Houthis’ intensified strikes included a fierce assault in Shabwa Governorate that left at least 75 people dead and more than 200 injured.

Saudi Civil Defense reported activating sirens via the National Emergency Alert Platform in Yenbu Governorate after the coalition’s leadership announced that air defense intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward the Medina region.

Euronews quoted retired American Colonel David DeRoche as saying that the Houthis’ use of short-range ballistic missiles to target vital centers like Aden complicates the logistics of moving ground troops and military equipment for the coalition.

Reporting for this sectionThe New York TimesEuronews