SANAA (Dispatches) — Yemen’s Ansarallah-led armed forces announced on Tuesday that they targeted a “sensitive site” at Saudi Arabia’s Najran Airport with a drone strike, in response to Saudi violations of Yemeni airspace.
“With God’s help, the [Yemeni Armed Forces] succeeded in targeting a sensitive target belonging to the Saudi enemy at Najran Airport using a drone. The strike was accurate,” the YAF said in a statement, adding that violating Yemen’s airspace would “not go without a response and punishment.”
Saudi authorities have remained silent on the announcement, and no sirens or blasts were reported.
The attack follows a stern warning from Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi late last month, who said Riyadh was heading toward “full-scale escalation” and that Yemen would meet it “with full escalation.”
“The oppressor will learn [that] America won’t save him. Britain won’t save him. Israel, the Zionist enemy, won’t save him,” Houthi said.
His speech coincided with a Guardian report stating Riyadh is “preparing” for a massive military assault against Yemen involving land and sea operations. Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry subsequently announced it was readying a “multinational naval coalition” for the Red Sea.
The escalation comes after Yemen imposed a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea on July 20, in response to over a decade of war and siege imposed by the kingdom. Saudi tankers have already been targeted multiple times, with an Aramco facility in Jazan set ablaze and forced shut.
Data shows Saudi crude loading volumes at the Red Sea port of Yanbu have plummeted 40 percent due to Yemen’s blockade and retaliatory strikes.
Six Saudi-flagged supertankers have diverted from Bab el-Mandab toward southern Africa rather than risk transit through Yemeni-controlled waters, Reuters reported. The 25-day detour adds significant costs to Saudi oil deliveries from Asia.
Meanwhile, Yemen recently announced it shot down a Turkish-made, Saudi armed reconnaissance drone in Al-Jawf province.
The maritime blockade comes as tanker traffic through Hormuz has fallen by nearly 80 percent, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, with just 24 vessels transiting during the week of July 20 compared to 110 when a U.S.-Iran ceasefire was in place.
Saudi Arabia waged war against Yemen in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition, backed logistically by the UK, U.S., and Israel. The war resulted in an unprecedented famine and hundreds of thousands of deaths. A 2023 peace process stalled, and recent Saudi airstrikes on Yemen have revived hostilities.
In late July, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. carried out airstrikes on Iraq, killing 20 members of the Popular Mobilization Units, prompting Iraqi resistance to vow retaliation.