Houthi missiles hit two Saudi airports as government forces push toward Bab al-Mandeb

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jazan and Najran International Airport were struck on Monday evening. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Tuesday that “the attacks resulted in three minor injuries and material damage”. The Houthis said late on Monday that their forces had targeted the sites. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms”, calling the targeting of airports and civilian infrastructure a dangerous escalation, a flagrant violation of international laws and norms and a direct threat to civil aviation, according to the Saudi Press Agency; the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council issued its own condemnation from Tunis the same day. One Iran International live-blog entry headed the incident as three killed rather than three injured; every other source, including the Saudi regulator, says injured, and the fatality figure should not be relied on.

On the ground, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces claimed on 5 October to have seized sites at Dhubab in Taiz governorate, near Bab al-Mandeb. Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said the decision to launch operations followed “the Houthi militias' continued mobilization, escalation and attacks, as well as their threats against civilians, facilities, neighboring countries and international shipping lanes”, in remarks reported by CNN; coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki accused the Houthis of continuing attacks on Saudi territory and on shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday that at least 83 civilians had been killed and 146 wounded since the offensive began, with spokesman Anas al-Asbahi putting the share of children among the casualties at 60%. That figure comes from a belligerent-controlled ministry and is unverified.

Assessment: The southern file is where the Hormuz argument gets its second front. If the Bab al-Mandeb end of the Red Sea is contested at the same time as the Gulf end, the bypass routes that are supposed to make Hormuz survivable become less reliable — which is part of what the EIA’s revised fourth-quarter forecast is pricing. Al Jazeera’s analysis is the realistic frame: government forces can hold recently taken ground near the coast, but dislodging the Houthis from long-held territory and the major ports is a different and much longer proposition. Treat both casualty counts with care; the Saudi regulator’s figure is official and narrow, the Sanaa ministry’s is political and broad.