--- title: "Two Houthi missiles land 500 metres from a Cairo-bound plane at Aden airport" description: "Yemen’s government calls it an attack on a civilian airport. The Houthis say they hit a Saudi command post next to it" author: "Nate Ledger" published: 2026-10-16T21:56:07Z modified: 2026-10-17T07:35:45Z url: https://rews.cc/a/two-houthi-missiles-land-500-metres-from-a-cairo-bound-plane-f856f0 language: en tags: ["yemen", "houthis", "missiles", "war", "aden", "mideast"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Two Houthi missiles land 500 metres from a Cairo-bound plane at Aden airport *Yemen’s government calls it an attack on a civilian airport. The Houthis say they hit a Saudi command post next to it* By Nate Ledger · October 16, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/two-houthi-missiles-land-500-metres-from-a-cairo-bound-plane-f856f0 ## In brief - Yemen’s information minister says two Houthi missiles landed near Aden airport’s runway on Friday, 500 metres from a plane - The aircraft was Yemenia flight IY612 to Cairo; the minister said passengers and crew were safe - A Houthi source said the target was a Saudi command headquarters in the Badr camp next to the airport - Aden security officials said it was the second attack on the airport in less than a week - A Houthi strike on Aden’s presidential palace on Thursday killed five and injured 16, according to the health minister On Friday night two missiles came down near the runway at Aden International Airport, about 500 metres from a plane that was getting ready to take off. That is the account of Yemen’s information minister, Moammar al-Eryani, [as Al Jazeera reported](https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/16/yemens-government-says-houthis-fired-two-missiles-at-aden-airport). He blamed the Houthis. It came a day after a Houthi strike on the presidential palace in Aden, the port city that serves as the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, killed several people. Eryani gave more detail in a post on X, [cited by Arab News](https://www.arabnews.com/middle-east/2-houthi-missiles-strike-aden-airport-no-casualties-reported-3006780). The plane was a Yemenia Airways jet, flight IY612 to Cairo. The missiles hit roughly 100 metres from the midpoint of the runway, and he said the passengers and crew were safe. He called the strike “not merely an attack on a civilian airport, but a direct threat to the lives of passengers and aviation crews, the safety of air navigation, and a flagrant violation of international laws,” and said it could have killed dozens of travellers. He also pointed out that Yemenis rely on that airport to go abroad for medical treatment and for study. ![A white passenger jet sits on a diagonal runway beside two rubble-ringed craters in a textured teal surface.](https://rews.cc/img/cac022cfa80103221ae5a484d0a8ae09519e7341.webp) The Houthis tell it differently, and the gap between the two versions is worth a look. According to [Bernama’s report](https://www.bernama.com/en/world/news.php?id=2621564), a Houthi military source said the target was “the Saudi forces’ command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province,” along with a weapons depot. Sources speaking to Anadolu gave a third account: three explosions, two missiles hitting the runway of a military airfield inside Badr Camp, which sits next to the international airport, and a third hitting the Saudi-led coalition’s headquarters in the al-Buraiqah district. Put the versions next to each other and they mostly agree on where the missiles landed: on or near a strip of tarmac at Aden’s airport. What they disagree on is what to call that tarmac. In a war that argument carries real weight, because the label determines whether a strike is a war crime or a legitimate military operation. The government says civilian airport, a passenger jet and international law. The Houthis say Saudi command post. If a military airfield really does share a fence line with the civilian one, as the Anadolu account suggests, each side can describe the same 500 metres in the way that suits it. The passengers waiting on IY612 presumably cared less about the label. ![A black rolling suitcase merges with a concrete wall topped with barbed wire, beside an airport chair against a blue background with a red circle.](https://rews.cc/img/76ece6da939fe6d5f72b101121d25c2783be36b1.webp) This was also not the first time. The Aden Security Department said it was the second attack on the airport in less than a week, [The National reported](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/17/yemens-houthis-launch-missile-attacks-on-aden-airport/), and ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones had already targeted the airport earlier this month. ## The palace The attack on Thursday was more serious. The Houthis fired missiles at the al-Maashiq presidential palace, which houses the government’s headquarters. Eryani said five missiles were involved. The death toll has moved around. Early reports said two security guards had been killed. Yemen’s health minister later [put the toll](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-16/houthis-attack-aden-killing-five-and-wounding-16/107268204) at five dead and 16 injured. Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani and other officials were inside the compound at the time. The government said they were unharmed, though two of the prime minister’s bodyguards were among the dead. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree [said on X](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/15/houthis-target-yemens-presidential-palace-in-aden-with-missiles) that the strike was a response to Saudi aggression. The group described the palace complex as a hub for Saudi military command and logistics and said any Saudi military presence on Yemeni soil is a legitimate target. That is the same reasoning it applied to the airport a day later: find something Saudi near the building and the building becomes fair game. According to Al Jazeera, it was the first attack of its kind on the palace since the current round of fighting began. ![A torn paper collage shows a domed coastal palace split by a deep crack, with a large missile shadow cast across the blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/1b2aea42a051200eadac1e6ee2f84203d3a7ba68.webp) ## Meanwhile, in Marib The government spent the same 24 hours talking up its own offensive. It claims advances in Marib province and says its forces “neutralised” 430 Houthi fighters in a single day and destroyed or disabled more than 100 vehicles and military assets. Al Jazeera’s subhead turned “neutralised” into “killed,” which may or may not be accurate. In military press releases, “neutralised” can cover killed, wounded, captured, or simply driven off a hill, and it is almost impossible to verify from outside. The number does fit the story the government has been telling since it launched [the Dawn of Yemen offensive](https://rews.cc/a/dawn-of-yemen-and-the-arithmetic-of-overstretch-6a336d) earlier this month, which has the stated aim of [retaking everything](https://rews.cc/a/yemen-s-government-declares-it-will-retake-everything-starti-86d1ab), Sanaa included. I think the interesting question is how these two campaigns relate to each other. The government’s pitch, to Yemenis and to its Saudi backers, is that it is on the offensive and that the state functions from Aden: the prime minister works there, ministers stay there, flights leave for Cairo. Youth Minister Nayef Saleh al-Bakri made exactly that point after the palace strike, saying the cabinet ministers in Aden were unharmed and would stay in the city. The Houthis do not need to win in Marib to undercut that pitch. They only need to show that the palace and the runway, the two most visible symbols of a functioning capital, can be hit within a day of each other. One side keeps score in fighters neutralised. The other keeps score by making the government’s capital look less secure. Eryani closed his statement by thanking the Saudi-led coalition for its support. By the Houthis’ reasoning, that support is what made the airport a target in the first place.