LAGOS, Nigeria (Voice Of Naija) Yemen’s Houthi rebels have accused Saudi Arabia of declaring war on the country, after airstrikes hit the runway of Sanaa International Airport on Sunday, escalating tensions in a conflict that has simmered for over a decade.
The Houthi Foreign Ministry, which controls the capital Sanaa, said in a statement that “the Saudi regime has declared war and must bear full responsibility for it,” accusing Riyadh of intensifying a blockade and waging what it called a comprehensive campaign against Yemen. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree described the strike as “blatant and unjust aggression,” blaming Saudi Arabia directly for the attack.
However, Yemen’s internationally recognized government — which is backed by Saudi Arabia and operates in exile from the Houthi-held capital — has claimed responsibility for the strike itself. According to the Yemeni Ministry of Defence, the runway was targeted to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing on Yemeni soil, after Houthi militias reportedly blocked a Yemeni national aircraft from landing and insisted the Iranian plane be allowed through instead.
“The Houthi terrorist militias, supported by the Iranian regime, prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the capital’s airport, Sanaa, and insisted that the Iranian aircraft violate Yemeni airspace. Therefore, the airport runway was targeted,” the ministry said.
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The conflicting accounts underscore the fractured nature of Yemen’s decade-long civil war, which pits the Houthis — who seized Sanaa in 2014 and are widely seen as backed by Iran — against the internationally recognized government supported by a Saudi-led coalition since 2015. That coalition intervention, launched at the request of then-president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, has drawn in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco and Sudan over the years, and has been blamed for one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions of Yemenis facing famine and disease.
Sunday’s strike comes against a backdrop of renewed instability in Yemen. Late last year, the Saudi-backed government cancelled a joint defence agreement with the UAE and ordered UAE forces to leave the country, following disputed strikes on the Southern Transitional Council-held port of Mukalla. Government forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes, subsequently recaptured territory from the separatist STC in early January, reversing months of gains.
While a 2023 Saudi-Iran normalization deal had raised hopes of winding down the broader regional rivalry fuelling the Yemen war, analysts have repeatedly warned that any reduction in Saudi military engagement could allow the conflict to reignite rather than resolve. Sunday’s exchange of accusations suggests those fears remain far from settled, with the Houthis now framing the episode as an act of war rather than an isolated strike.
Neither Saudi Arabia’s government nor its coalition partners had issued an official response to the Houthi statement as of press time.
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The renewed flare-up in Yemen carries implications beyond the Arabian Peninsula. Nigeria, like many African nations reliant on Gulf oil markets and Middle Eastern remittance corridors, has watched the years-long Saudi-Yemen conflict warily for its effect on global oil prices and shipping routes through the Red Sea — a corridor Houthi forces have targeted repeatedly in recent years in connection with the Israel-Hamas war. Analysts note that any fresh escalation in Yemen could further strain shipping costs already affecting West African import bills, even as Abuja continues to deepen trade and security ties with Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
