ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- A loud explosion rocked the vicinity of Aden International Airport in southern Yemen on Wednesday after the Houthi group fired a ballistic missile toward the area, a local security official told Xinhua.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the blast was heard near the airport. Casualties and damage were not immediately known.
Shortly after the explosion, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement posted on social media platform X that people at the airport should evacuate immediately.
Sarea claimed "a Saudi military cargo aircraft was at the airport transporting weapons" that he said would be used against the Yemeni people.
There was no immediate response from the Saudi-led coalition or Yemeni government to the claim.
Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognized government, has come under repeated Houthi missile attacks in recent days amid escalating fighting between the group and government forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government. ■
