Yemeni strike on radar cripples Saudi Najran airport

The Saudi Arabian airport near the kingdom's border with Yemen has been knocked out of operation after a retaliatory strike by Yemen's Armed Forces hit the facility's main radar, an AFP report said on Tuesday, citing a regional source with knowledge of the matter. According to the source, operations at the Najran Airport have been "suspended indefinitely" with the targeted radar having sustained damage. The airport's website listed as "unknown" the status of flights scheduled for the next few days.

Earlier in the day, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced striking a "strategic installation" inside the airport in southern Saudi Arabia in response to Riyadh's ongoing aggression and blockade against their homeland. Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for the servicemen, said the vital target was hit using a domestically-developed kamikaze drone in reprisal for Saudi Arabia's violation of Yemeni airspace over the northern provinces of Sa'ada and Hajjah with unmanned aerial vehicles.

Last month, the forces imposed a naval blockade on Saudi maritime transit through the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response to a blockade imposed by Riyadh on the Arab Peninsula nation. Also on Tuesday, an analysis released by the international maritime intelligence firm Windward cited the latest data as showing that maritime traffic involving Saudi-linked vessels' transit through the waterway had fallen to its lowest level on record. The average daily number of the vessels transiting Bab el-Mandeb has fallen from around 30 to 18, representing a 22-percent decline, it said, adding that the drop among oil tankers has been even steeper standing at 39 percent.

Sana'a has vowed to sustain the blockade as part of its "siege for siege" approach as long as Riyadh kept up its maritime restrictions targeting Yemen. According to the AFP report, the Najran airport's operations have been suspended indefinitely, and the airport's website listed flight status as unknown for the coming days. The report by AFP added that the strike was confirmed by a regional source with knowledge of the matter.