SANAA, June 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched a bomb-laden drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Abha airport on Monday.
“The attack accurately hit a military target in the airport,” Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.
“The attack came in response to the escalation of the Saudi-led coalition,” he added.
Meanwhile, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a bomb-laden drone the Houthi militia launched toward the Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
The attack on Saudi Arabia comes about three days after an Omani delegation concluded a week-long visit in Yemen’s capital Sanaa as part of international diplomatic efforts to convince the Houthi group to accept a recent UN-proposed cease-fire between the Yemeni warring sides.
The Iran-backed Houthis began in February a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib in central Yemen, which hosts nearly 2 million internally displaced people.
The United Nations has warned the offensive on Marib could lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi’s government. — NNN-XINHUA
