The facts
On Wednesday Yemen’s internationally recognised government said Houthi forces launched at least two ballistic missiles and several drones at Aden International Airport. The Ministry of Transport reported one missile landed near the runway minutes before a scheduled flight from Cairo, prompting the flight to be cancelled and diverted to Jeddah and leading to the evacuation of the terminal and the removal of two aircraft from the tarmac. The Houthis claimed they were aiming at “Saudi military supplies” arriving at the Badr camp near the airport. Separately, the Saudi‑led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi‑launched ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Major‑General Turki al‑Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said the launch platform in Sanaa was being tracked for later destruction.
Our take
The Houthis have turned Aden International Airport into a live‑fire testing ground, and the result is a spectacularly stupid mess that anyone with a pulse can see coming. They brag about hitting “Saudi military supplies” at the Badr camp, yet the only thing they actually struck was a civilian runway, forcing a Cairo‑to‑Jeddah diversion and a frantic scramble to move planes off the tarmac. It’s the kind of half‑baked excuse a kid uses when he knocks over a vase and blames the cat – except the “cat” is a multi‑million‑dollar missile and the vase is a civilian airport that could have turned into a humanitarian disaster. Meanwhile, the Saudi‑led coalition swoops in like a clumsy superhero, saying it intercepted and destroyed another Houthi missile heading for Riyadh. Their spokesperson, Major‑General Turki al‑Maliki, promised to track the launch platform, which is essentially a polite way of saying they’ll turn part of Sanaa into a smoking crater. The whole episode is a grotesque game of whack‑a‑mole with high‑explosive toys, where each side tries to out‑blow the other while ordinary people pay the price. The Houthis get a fleeting sense of power by launching expensive garbage at a civilian hub, and the Saudi coalition burns through cash to intercept and retaliate. It’s a predictable cycle of dick‑measuring with missiles that does nothing but waste resources, endanger civilians, and keep the region stuck in perpetual chaos. The only thing that seems liberated here is the endless supply of bullshit each side spits at the other.
