RIYADH: Yemen’s Houthis have fired a missile at Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport, wounding 26 civilians in the building’s arrivals hall, according to the Saudi-UAE-led coalition fighting the rebels.
In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition said a projectile hit the arrivals hall at Abha airport, causing material damage. Three women and two children were among the wounded, and were of Saudi, Yemeni and Indian nationalities, it said.
Eight people were taken to hospital while most were treated on site.
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The attack could amount to a war crime and proved that the Houthis have acquired “advanced weapons from Iran”, the coalition said, vowing to take “urgent and timely” measures in response.
Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that the Houthi forces launched a cruise missile attack on Abha airport, which is about 200km north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes.
The alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi that had been forced out of power by the Houthis.
The rebels on Wednesday insisted they had the right to defend themselves in the face of five years of Saudi-led bombing and an air and sea blockade.
“The continuation of the aggression and siege on Yemen for the fifth year, the closure of Sanaa airport and the rejection of a political solution make it inevitable for our people to defend themselves,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said in a statement reported by al-Masirah.
The Abha attack comes as the Saudi-UAE-led coalition intensified air raids on Houthi positions in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah.
On Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Saudi air defence forces intercepted two Houthi drones that targeted Khamis Mushait in the kingdom’s south on Monday. The attack did not cause damage or casualties, the agency reported.
The rebels said they had targeted the King Khalid airbase near Khamis Mushait.
Last month, the Saudi air force also shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by Houthi rebels that targeted Jizan airport, close to the southern border with Yemen, the coalition said.
Two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia were hit by Houthi drones causing minor supply disruptions highlighting an apparent significant leap in the drone capabilities of the Houthis.
