Coalition strikes Houthi naval targets in Hodeidah as Houthis claim strikes on Riyadh airport

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Monday (Oct 6) that its naval forces had struck “military targets” belonging to the Houthis in Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast, destroying weapons depots, facilities storing booby-trapped boats and naval mines, and thwarting a planned attack on waterways in the southern Red Sea (https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2026/10/06/saudiled-coalition-in-yemen-says-attacked-houthiheld-hodeidah).

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki announced the operation on X, framing it as protecting maritime navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a chokepoint for oil and cargo shipping (https://www.trtworld.com/article/e5195d79b640).

The strikes formed part of a wider multi-front push: the Yemeni military said it had carried out more than 1,000 strikes and begun an offensive against the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, while the coalition said 100 warplanes flew sorties at dawn as part of the “Dawn of Yemen” operation (https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/06/yemen-s-houthis-claim-striking-riyadh-airport-other-saudi-sites).

The Houthis answered with their own claims. Military spokesman Yahya Sare’e said the group had launched missiles and drones at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha airport, the Khamis Mushait airbase and other sites, and warned commercial airlines that Saudi airspace was now “a theater for our operations” (https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/saudi-backed-forces-launch-fight-to-free-bab-al-mandeb-from-houthis-f94b91fd).

The United Nations says the fighting — the deadliest in Yemen in years — has displaced more than 184,000 people in recent weeks (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/yemen-houthis-strike-saudi-riyadh-airport-6435476).