Saudi-led coalition says 82 Houthi targets destroyed across Yemen

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, take part in a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on October 7, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 08 Oct 2026 9:08 AM MYT

ISTANBUL, Oct 8 — The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Wednesday that it destroyed 82 Houthi military targets across four provinces, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the operation targeted Houthi positions in Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib.

The targets included 11 ballistic missile storage facilities in mountainous areas of Saada along with command and control centers, communications systems, missile and weapons depots and Houthi headquarters, he said.

Al-Maliki said the operation followed Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

He said attacks on civilians and civilian facilities “will not go unpunished.”

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis. 

Earlier Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said three people were killed and 36 others injured in attacks on Abha and King Khalid international airports on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The coalition also said Wednesday that it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis  north of Riyadh.

On Tuesday, it said it intercepted and destroyed another ballistic missile launched toward Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia. The coalition operation comes amid a broader escalation in Yemen that began in July after a period of relative calm following a UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022.

Fighting intensified in September when the Houthis seized strategic positions in the provinces of Al-Hudaydah and Taiz, including the port city of Mokha, before advancing to Mayyun Island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. — Bernama-Anadolu