Rebel drone attack from Yemen injures 8 in Saudi Arabia

ISTANBUL

A rebel drone attack from Yemen has injured eight people in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday.

A coalition statement said a civilian plane also sustained damage in the attack that targeted the Abha Airport southwest of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi air defenses also intercepted and destroyed a second drone attack by Houthi rebels on the airport, the statement said, describing the attack as a “war crime”.

On Monday, the coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels towards the southern Najran province.
There was no comment from the Houthi group on the statement.

Houthi rebels regularly announce rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are a reaction to the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara