Three Missiles Hit Aden Including the Airport Grounds

Aden's security administration said two of three ballistic missiles fired on Friday night landed inside the international airport. No casualties were reported.

On Friday night, three ballistic missiles struck Aden, the southern Yemeni port that is the temporary seat of the recognised government. The city's security administration said two of the missiles, which it attributed to the Houthi group, landed inside the grounds of Aden International Airport. It said early information showed no casualties. It also said the strikes were a serious threat to civilian buildings and to air traffic, because international flights were operating and passengers were in the departure and arrival halls. A third missile hit the city. The administration did not give that impact point in the same statement. Residents reported explosions across Aden. Two missiles landed inside the airport and no deaths were reported.

Why it matters

An airport with passengers in the hall is a civilian target even when the people firing say they are aiming at soldiers. Aden has already been hit this week. On Thursday an attack on the Al-Maashiq palace compound killed five people and wounded 16. The health minister, Qassem Buhaibeh, said those dead and wounded included security guards and civilian employees. The Houthis claimed Saudi officers had been hit. The government's list was not that list. Friday night's missiles are a separate attack, a day later, on the airport rather than the palace. No deaths were reported from the airport strike. That can change if the early count is revised. What does not change is that passengers were in the building when the missiles landed on the grounds. A ballistic missile is a rocket that follows a set path onto a target, as distinct from a drone that can be steered late. Two of them inside an airport perimeter, with halls full of passengers, are a direct risk to civilians even when the first count of deaths is zero. Aden's airport is how civilians, aid and officials still move through a city that has been at war for years. Closing it, or making passengers abandon a hall, is a cost even when the casualty line stays at zero.

Key facts

• Three ballistic missiles struck Aden on Friday night.

• The security administration said two landed inside Aden International Airport and that the Houthis fired them.

• Preliminary information showed no casualties at the airport.

• The administration said passengers were in the halls and international flights were operating.

• A day earlier, an attack on the Al-Maashiq palace killed five people and wounded 16, including guards and civilian staff.

• The Houthi claim that Saudi officers died in the palace attack does not match the government's list.

What's next

The airport count is preliminary. A revised statement could add injuries that were not known on Friday night. Flights through Aden now sit under the same risk as the palace did on Thursday. The wider war has not paused. Strikes on Saudi airports, warnings to civilians there, and missiles on Aden are one campaign described from two capitals. The fact for passengers is local. The hall they were sitting in was inside the grounds that were hit. The security administration posted its account on social media. A fuller note would name the third impact and say whether any passenger was treated. That note was not in the first statement.