Yemeni Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the two missiles landed about 500 metres from an aircraft preparing to take off at Aden International Airport on Friday. He said all passengers and crew were safe, thanking "divine providence" for preventing a potential "horrific humanitarian catastrophe" and calling the attack "a grave violation of international laws and norms."
The Houthis, in a statement attributed to a military source, said they had attacked "the Saudi forces' command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province" and a weapons depot, according to the AFP news agency.
The airport attack follows a Houthi missile strike on the presidential palace in Aden on Thursday, which the government said was deadly.
Fighting has intensified across Yemen. Government forces said on Friday they had advanced in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa. Military spokesman Majed al-Nazili said troops, with air support, had made significant "territorial gains" in the eastern part of the province, securing "key positions." He also said Yemeni forces had "neutralised" more than 430 Houthi fighters in 24 hours and destroyed or disabled over 100 vehicles and military assets.
In Taiz governorate, a key battlefront, government forces said they had fended off several "large-scale" Houthi attacks, inflicting "heavy losses," and claimed to have captured a Houthi drone team. In recent weeks, Houthi forces have encircled Taiz, Yemen's third largest city, cutting its main road south to Aden and causing displacement and worsening the humanitarian crisis.
Elsewhere, the Saudi-led coalition said it had downed missiles and drones over Riyadh and other parts of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of arming and training the Houthis and encouraging attacks against the kingdom. Iran's foreign ministry rejected the accusation on Friday, saying Tehran had played no role in any Houthi operations.