Ankara: The Houthis claimed Friday that Saudi aircraft carried out two airstrikes on Mokha airport in southwestern Yemen. The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Saudi aircraft launched two strikes on the airport, without providing information about casualties or damage. Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim.

According to Anadolu Agency, the reported strikes came two days after Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, said the Houthis had launched attacks involving ballistic missiles and drones toward the southern Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Jizan.

The map of territorial control in Yemen has shifted in recent days as fighting between government forces and the Houthis has intensified since early July following years of relative calm. The Houthis took control of the entire western Al-Hudaydah province after entering the areas of Hays and Al-Khawkhah. They also advanced through western Taiz province and seized Red Sea coastal cities, including the strategic city of Mokha, extending their reach toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Government forces, meanwhile, have made advances in the northern Al-Jawf province and moved closer to Al-Hazm, the provincial capital. Clashes also continue on fronts in the provinces of Marib, Al-Bayda, and Al-Dhale.

Yemen's western coast is strategically important because it extends along the Red Sea and lies near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's most important maritime routes. Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.