Planned aid flights to Yemen have been blocked after Saudi Arabian jets bombed the runway at Sana’a airport on Tuesday.
Aircraft belonging to the Saudi Arabian-led coalition carried out the bombings on Tuesday afternoon to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in the Yemeni capital, a spokesman for the coalition said.
Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said the plane had not coordinated with coalition authorities and the pilot had ignored a warning to turn back. The bombing of the runway made it unusable for planned aid flights, he said.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Saudi jets tried to force what it said was an aid plane back after it entered Yemeni airspace, but the pilots had ignored these “illegal warnings”.
The jets then bombed Sana’a airport as the plane was making an approach to land, forcing it to turn back, IRNA added. It said the plane, belonging to the Red Crescent, was carrying food and medical aid to Sana’a.
IRNA said the plane had been given permission to fly the route by Oman, whose airspace it passed through, and the Houthi militia which controls Sana’a airport.
A month of Saudi-led air strikes have targeted the Houthi militia, which is supported by Iran and controls most of western Yemen including Sana’a. The air strikes and ground fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to the government in exile in Riyadh have worsened an existing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, aid agencies say.
Relief workers warned on Monday that the situation in Yemen had become catastrophic, as Saudi-led aircraft pounded Houthi militiamen and rebel army units, dashing hopes for a pause in fighting to let aid in.
“It was difficult enough before, but now there are just no words for how bad it’s gotten,” said International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Marie Claire Feghali. “It’s a catastrophe, a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Fighting between Shia rebels and loyalists killed dozens more people across Yemen on Tuesday, as Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using cold war-era tactics by air dropping leaflets warning of “Persian expansion”.
A Saudi-led coalition has carried out air strikes for seven days straight since announcing a halt to its aerial campaign, hitting Sana’a airport among other targets.
Riyadh said last week that it was ending its nearly five-week-old bombing campaign, except in places where the Houthis were advancing, to allow access for food and medicine.
A coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, rattled by what it saw as expanding Iranian influence in the Arabian peninsula, is trying to stop Houthi fighters and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Salah taking control of Yemen. But the air campaign has had little success and vital aid was reported to be being held up by both sides.
Asseri said the coalition would help to repair the runway if the Houthis lifted their control of the airport.
