Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted the Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire, the kingdom’s state television reported.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control, Saudi state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV said, without offering word on possible casualties from the assault. The Iran-backed Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack soon afterward, with military spokesperson Yehia Sareai saying the group used four bomb-laden drones to target Abha airport. “This comes in response to the continued aerial bombardment and the brutal siege on our country,” Mr. Sareai said, noting that the Houthis consider the airport a military and not a civilian target. Col. Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen, said the forces intercepted two bomb-laden drones launched by the Houthis toward the kingdom. He condemned the assault as a “deliberate attempt to target civilians in the southern region” of the country.
