SANA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthis announced that Sanaa International Airport is ready for flights again after the runway damage sustained in recent air strikes was repaired.
Senior Houthi official Mohammed Kahim said at a press conference on Wednesday that the maintenance and repair activities on both runways have been completed and that they are determined to operate the airport.
Kahim stated that the reopening of the airport is part of efforts to break the "blockade" imposed on Yemen.
The internationally recognized Yemeni government announced on Monday that it targeted the runway of Sanaa International Airport in order to prevent the landing of an Iranian passenger plane carrying a high-ranking Houthi delegation returning from Tehran, the capital of Iran.
The Houthis described these attacks, for which they held Saudi Arabia responsible, as a violation of the tension reduction agreements, which have remained largely valid since the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement in 2022. Saudi Arabia has not yet made a statement on the issue.
Hours after this situation, the Houthis announced that they were launching missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been shadowed by conflict since Houthi forces seized control of the capital Sanaa and a large region in the north of the country in late 2014. The coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily in the country in order to support the government recognized by the international community.