Houthis strike Aden airport

DUBAI/ ADEN:

Yemen's Houthis attacked Aden airport on Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said, after the Iran-aligned group warned people to evacuate the facility as fighting escalated in the impoverished country caught in the wider Middle East conflict.

Residents in the southern port city, where the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government is based, said they heard an explosion near the airport, a humanitarian lifeline and the main gateway to southern Yemen.

The Yemeni forces said the attack on the airport caused injuries among civilians and material damage. Air traffic was halted after the strike, two transport ministry officials told Reuters. An aid source said some UN staff left the airport shortly before the attack and no one was hurt.

A flight with aid workers on-board departed from Aden airport safely on Wednesday morning to Amman before the incident at the airport, two aid sources told Reuters.