Saudi air defense forces intercept Houthi drones targeting Jazan airport

JEDDAH: Saudi air defense forces intercepted weaponized drones launched by Houthi terrorists toward southern Saudi Arabia, the coalition supporting Yemen's legitimate government said early Friday.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said the unmanned aircraft were launched on Thursday night from Yemen, targeting King Abdullah Airport in the border region of Jazan.

Al-Maliki bewailed that the Iran-backed "Houthi criminals" continue to carry out "hostile and terrorist acts targeting civilians and civilian installations" in Saudi Arabia.

The attack on Jazan follows a series of missile and drone strikes launched by the Yemen-based Houthi terrorist militia on the city of Abha in nearby Asir region in the past weeks.

A missile attack on June 12 on Abha airport wounded 26 civilians, drawing retaliatory strikes by the coalition on Houthi positions.

Another attack on June 23 on the same airport killed a Syrian national and wounded 21 other civilians, according to the coalition.

On July 2, an attack on the airport left nine civilians wounded.

Repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have been reported since the Kingdom led a coalition intervention in March 2015 to restore the UN-backed Yemeni government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, which the Houthi militia had ousted.

The fighting that rages to this day has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and in need of aid.

(With AFP)