The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces says US-built surface-to-air missile defense systems stationed at Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir could not intercept the cruise missile fired by army troopers and allied fighters from Popular Committees at the strategic facility.

Speaking during a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Wednesday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the winged projectile had hit the designated target with great precision.

He noted that the missile hit the observation tower in the airport, which is about 200 kilometers north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes, causing significant disruption to air travel.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree (file photo)

Saree pointed out that the missile attack on Abha airport is part of retaliatory measures by Yemeni soldiers and their allies in the face of the Saudi-led coalition’s crimes against Yemeni people.

Meanwhile, the alliance said in a statement that it would make a firm response to the missile attack by Yemeni forces on Abha airport in southern Saudi Arabia, which wounded 26 people.

The statement went on to say that the projectile hit the arrivals hall at the airport, causing material damage.

Three women and two children were among the wounded, who were of Saudi, Yemeni and Indian nationalities, it said. Eight people were taken to hospital while most were treated on site.

On Tuesday, Saree called on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to put an immediate end to their military aggression against Yemen, or embrace for major surprises.

“Thank God, we are capable of carrying out more than one operation at the same time,” he said, adding that Yemeni forces’ “list of targets is increasing day by day.”

The high-ranking Yemeni military official stressed that the Yemeni forces’ operation is well documented with photos and videos.

“Our surprises will be uncovered soon. God willing we will adopt the equation of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” Saree pointed out.

On Sunday, the spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement said the airports of countries involved in the devastating military aggression and blockade against his impoverished homeland would be targeted as long as the embargo imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Sana'a International Airport remains in place.

“We had repeatedly informed the United Nations about the health condition of [the Secretary-General of the Union of Popular Forces] Mohamed Abdel Rahman al-Rubai, who required treatment abroad. Unfortunately, the world body gave in to Saudi Arabia’s demands, and could not do anything to lift the siege on Sana'a Airport,” Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network cited Mohammed Abdul-Salam as writing on his official Twitter page.

The Houthi spokesman added, “This is something that cannot be tolerated at all.”

“Given the criminal siege on Sana'a International Airport and the failure of the UN to take proper measures [aimed at resolution of the issue]…, the countries of the (Saudi-led) aggression must know that their airports are within our firing range as the attacks would be the most efficient way to end the blockade,” Abdul-Salam pointed out.

A Yemeni man holds a girl hooked to an intravenous line in a ward at al-Sabeen Maternal Hospital in the capital Sana’a, on June 11, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.