SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi rebels have advanced to within 80 kilometres of Aden while exchanging cross-border strikes with a Saudi-led coalition on Monday, military sources and officials said.

Fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government forces was underway on Monday at a military camp at the entrance to Tur al-Bahah district, one of the main approaches to the temporary capital of Aden, four military sources said.

The advance brings the Houthis closer to Aden than at any point since 2015. Having taken Al-Maqatirah district after launching an assault three days ago, the Houthis now threaten strategic positions along the main road linking Aden with the besieged city of Taiz.

Meanwhile, the Houthis said on Monday that Saudi strikes targeted a key Red Sea port and oil facility in Hodeidah province, wounding seven people.

Saudi-coalition strikes on Ras Issa port wounded four civilians, while three more were hurt in an attack on an oil facility in Bajil district, Houthi health ministry spokesman Anees Alasbahi said in a post on X.

“These repeated attacks on oil facilities and vital ports constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” Alasbahi said. The Saudi-led coalition said it had conducted “a precision operation to neutralise vital resources” used by the Houthis.

The Houthis also said on Monday they had targeted Dammam Airport in eastern Saudi Arabia, while claiming strikes on a Saudi early-warning radar and a military transport plane in the kingdom’s southwest.

“Our armed forces have, over the past 48 hours, succeeded in targeting Dammam Airport in two phases with two drones,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said. Meanwhile, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said on X that forces intercepted and destroyed two drones in the Riyadh area.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority said the threat had passed shortly after issuing alerts for the southern and western cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, Taif and Najran.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2026