RIYADH, October 10, 2026 — The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Saturday it destroyed 136 military targets in a “large-scale operation” against the Iran-backed group, marking the biggest single-day tally in the coalition’s retaliation campaign since attacks on Saudi airports began killing civilians.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki announced the operation in a series of posts on his official account on X, saying coalition forces were carrying out “a large-scale operation targeting the personnel and capabilities of the Houthi terrorist militia.”
“We destroyed 136 military targets in areas controlled by the Houthi terrorist militia,” al-Maliki wrote in a separate post, according to reports.
Mountain tunnel missile storage hit
Al-Maliki shared video footage showing the destruction of ballistic missile storage facilities concealed inside mountain tunnels in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, state media reported. He said the operation was focused on dismantling and destroying the Houthi ballistic missile network, which he said had been firing on Saudi civilian targets for weeks.
The Houthis’ Almasirah TV channel reported that Saudi missiles targeted areas in the northwestern Yemeni governorate of Saada, the group’s traditional stronghold. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised statement that warplanes conducted approximately 77 airstrikes on Houthi positions in Sana’a and several other provinces throughout Friday, Al Masirah reported.
Retaliation for Riyadh airport attacks
The strikes are widely seen as retaliation for the deadly Houthi attacks on Saudi airports this week. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed Friday that three Saudi citizens — including Saudia pilot Captain Hamoud Ali Al-Kalthami — were killed in two Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport on Thursday, with a number of others of various nationalities injured.
The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government — which Saudi Arabia supports — reignited in July and has since spilled over into the neighbouring kingdom. The rebels have attacked transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian targets in Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles in recent weeks, officials said.
Ground fighting intensifies at Bab al-Mandab
On the ground, the air campaign coincided with intense fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi fighters in the strategic Bab al-Mandab area and across broad rural districts of Taiz province, military sources said. Clashes were also reported in the oil-rich province of Marib in eastern Yemen, underscoring the continuing escalation of hostilities on several key battlefronts.
Al-Maliki said coalition forces were providing round-the-clock air support to units of the Yemeni Armed Forces as military operations continue on multiple fronts. The coalition has been backing government troops in a counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, which is crucial to global shipping.
Houthi media also reported that two airport employees were killed and two others wounded in an airstrike on Sanaa International Airport on Friday afternoon, a claim that could not be independently verified.
