2 missiles strike the airport in Yemen’s port city of Aden, officials say

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Two missiles struck the airport in Yemen’s port city of Aden on Friday night, police said, blaming Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the second such attack on the airport in less than 10 days.

Police said no casualties were reported as fighting escalates in the latest front in the Iran war, one in which the rebels have attacked both neighboring Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by the kingdom.

It was the second major attack in Aden in two days. The Houthis on Thursday killed at least five people in a strike on a palace complex in Aden, the seat of the government.

An unnamed military official with the rebels told the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency that the group hit a military facility adjacent to the airport that houses a command center for the Saudi-led forces fighting the rebels, as well as a weapons depot there.

The Houthis previously targeted the airport with two missiles on Oct. 7, with no casualties, officials said.

This time, the Yemen government’s information minister said the missiles fell about 500 meters (yards) away from an airplane operated by Yemenia Airways as it was preparing to take off. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said its passengers were quickly evacuated.

Yemen’s transport ministry called the attack part of a “systematic Houthi escalation targeting vital facilities and state assets” and said the rebels are determined to endanger civilians.

The surge in fighting, which has revived Yemen’s devastating civil war, began months ago amid tensions in the wider Iran conflict. The Houthis, angered by an attack on the Sanaa airport under its control and a longstanding blockade on the rebels, declared a blockade of its own against neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Since then, the rebels have increasingly targeted airports and oil and military facilities in the kingdom, disrupting thousands of flights and killing 19 people, most in attacks on the international airport in the capital, Riyadh. The headquarters of Saudi oil giant Aramco have been struck as well in the latest blow for the world’s top oil exporter.

Meanwhile, the Houthis dashed down the Red Sea coast to take land on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Iran-threatened Strait of Hormuz. The Saudi-led coalition this month launched a major military offensive to dislodge the rebels from that strategic perch and retake territory.

While global markets have been rattled again, Yemeni civilians in places like the besieged city of Taiz have been suffering.

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Ezzidin reported from Cairo.

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This version corrects to say it was the second such attack in less than 10 days.

Ahmed Al-haj And Toqa Ezzidin, The Associated Press