Yemen's internationally recognised government has accused the Houthis of firing ballistic missiles and drones at Aden international airport, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Yemen's Ministry of Transport said the Houthis targeted the airport's runway and passenger terminal with at least two ballistic missiles and several drones.

"One of the missiles landed near the runway minutes before the Yemeni flight from Cairo was to land," the ministry said. "We cancelled the landing of the incoming flight from Cairo and diverted its route to Jeddah to protect the passengers."

The ministry said it also evacuated the airport terminal and removed two aircraft from the tarmac during the attacks.

"This incident could easily have turned a civilian flight into a horrific humanitarian disaster, claiming the lives of dozens of innocent people in an instant," it added.

Aden airport serves as the main international gateway for areas of Yemen outside Houthi control. The city has functioned as the seat of the internationally recognised government since the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

The Houthis offered a different account, saying they had targeted "Saudi military supplies" arriving at the Badr camp near the airport with ballistic missiles.

Separately, the Saudi-led military coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis north of Riyadh. Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition's spokesperson, said in a social media post that the launch platform used in the attack was being tracked via an intelligence system over Sanaa, and promised to destroy it.

The Houthis said in statements issued Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday that they had targeted Saudi international airports in both Riyadh and Abha.

The intensified strikes come amid broader regional tensions and an ongoing government counteroffensive. Saudi-backed government forces launched operations to retake the Red Sea port of Mocha and areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Government forces claimed Monday to have pushed the Houthis out of the Bab al-Mandeb area and the port city of Mocha, which they said was captured last month. The Houthis denied losing territory.

Fighting has concentrated in the southwestern province of Taiz.

A reporter in Sanaa described "all-out battles to take over the ground, the highlands and the mountains east of Bab al-Mandeb."

"It's a battle to take over the strategic western part of Taiz, and whoever controls the wider vicinity will overlook the region and have dominant military control," the reporter said.

"For the Yemeni government to take control of Mocha and the strategic bases and locations along the Red Sea coast, it first has to drive the Houthis off the mountains east of Mocha."

On Monday, Pakistan and Turkiye agreed to activate "deterrence measures" under their mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia and to rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter Houthi attacks.