RIYADH, October 8, 2026 — The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Wednesday that it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets across four provinces in what it described as a comprehensive retaliation operation following deadly Houthi attacks on civilian airports in Saudi Arabia.
Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al-Maliki said the strikes targeted Houthi positions in Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib, according to statements carried by Anadolu Ajansi and regional media. The targets included 11 ballistic-missile storage facilities built into mountainous areas of Saada, along with command-and-control centres, communications systems, missile and weapons depots, and Houthi gathering sites.
Al-Maliki said the operation was a direct response to the Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in the kingdom’s southwest, declaring that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure “will not go unpunished.”
11 missile storage sites hit in Saada mountains
The spokesman said the destroyed targets included 11 mountain-based ballistic-missile storage facilities in Saada province, a Houthi stronghold near the Saudi border. He also said coalition forces had destroyed a ballistic-missile launch platform in Sanaa that he said was being prepared for an imminent attack against Saudi Arabia.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the coalition’s claims.
The operation followed a warning from the coalition earlier Wednesday that it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis north of Riyadh. On Tuesday, the coalition said it had intercepted another Houthi missile aimed at Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
Retaliation for deadly airport attacks
The coalition action came hours after Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed that Houthi attacks on Abha and King Khalid international airports on October 6 and 7 had killed three people and injured 36 others.
Two women — one Moroccan and one Algerian national — were killed in the Abha attack, with 28 wounded, while a Sudanese national was killed in the Riyadh attack, with eight others injured including five Saudi citizens, officials said.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for both attacks, saying they had targeted the two airports with drones and ballistic missiles.
UAE, GCC and India back Riyadh
The United Arab Emirates on Thursday condemned the attacks on Saudi airports in the strongest terms, with its foreign ministry calling them “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and expressing support for “all measures” taken by Riyadh in response.
The Gulf Cooperation Council also called for a “firm and deterrent” international response to the Houthi attacks, with Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi saying member states stood united with the kingdom. India’s foreign ministry likewise condemned the targeting of civilian infrastructure and expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
The exchanges mark a sharp escalation in the wider conflict that reignited in July after a period of relative calm following a UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022, and comes amid a Yemeni government counter-offensive — dubbed the “Dawn of Yemen” operation — to retake Houthi-held territory.
