Houthis kill 1, wound 7 in attack on airport in Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia says one person has been killed and seven others wounded in an attack by Yemeni rebels on an airport in the kingdom's south.

The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen against the rebel Houthis was quoted in the state-run Saudi Press Agency as saying the airport in Abha was struck shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Col. Turki al-Maliki did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack. The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia had been killed.

A Houthi spokesman, Yahia al-Sarie, said earlier Sunday the rebels had launched drone attacks on Saudi airports in Abha and Jizan.

The attack comes less that two weeks after the airport in Abha was attacked by a Houthi cruise missile, wounding 26 passengers inside. </s> CAIRO, July 2 (Reuters) - A drone attack by Yemen'sIran-aligned Houthi movement on Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday left nine people injured, a Saudi-led coalition statement said.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that the nine civilian injured attack included one Indian and eight Saudis. All were in stable condition.

The Houthis, who are fighting in neighbouring Yemen, have recently stepped up attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition battling them.

Saudi owned Al-Arabiya TV also said Abha Airport had resumed flights.

A Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia last month died from wounds sustained in a drone attack on Abha Airport that was claimed by the Houthi movement in Yemen. </s> CAIRO (Reuters) - Yemen’s Houthi movement launched a new drone attack targeting the Abha regional airport in southern Saudi Arabia, the group’s Al-Masirah TV said on Monday.

There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the attack.

The Houthis have launched several strikes targeting Abha since last week, when a missile attack on the airport wounded 26 people. On Saturday, the group said it launched drone attacks on Abha and Jizan, another airport in southern Saudi Arabia. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia says one person has been killed and seven others wounded in an attack by Yemeni rebels on an airport in the kingdom’s south.

The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen against the rebel Houthis was quoted in the state-run Saudi Press Agency as saying the airport in Abha was struck shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Col. Turki al-Maliki did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack. The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia had been killed.

A Houthi spokesman, Yahia al-Sarie, said earlier Sunday the rebels had launched drone attacks on Saudi airports in Abha and Jizan.

The attack comes less that two weeks after the airport in Abha was attacked by a Houthi cruise missile, wounding 26 passengers inside. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Saudi Arabia says one person has been killed and seven others wounded in an attack by Yemeni rebels on an airport in the kingdom's south.

The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition at war in Yemen against the rebel Houthis was quoted in the state-run Saudi Press Agency as saying the airport in Abha was struck shortly after 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Col. Turki al-Maliki did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack. The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia had been killed.

A Houthi spokesman, Yahia al-Sarie, said earlier Sunday the rebels had launched drone attacks on Saudi airports in Abha and Jizan.

The attack comes less that two weeks after the airport in Abha was attacked by a Houthi cruise missile, wounding 26 passengers inside. </s> CAIRO (Reuters) - A drone attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday has left five people injured, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen confirmed the attack and said it had occurred at 12:35 a.m. local time, but provided no further details and did not mention any injuries.

The Houthis, who are fighting in neighboring Yemen, have recently stepped up attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition battling them.

A spokesman for the Houthis said the group had carried out a “large operation” targeting the airport, according to the group’s Al-Masirah TV.

Al-Arabiya also said the Abha airport had resumed flights.

A Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia last month died from wounds sustained in a drone attack on the Abha airport that was claimed by the Houthi movement in Yemen. </s> CAIRO, July 2 (Reuters) - A drone attack by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Abha Airport in Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday left nine people injured, a Saudi-led coalition statement said.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that the nine civilian injured attack included one Indian and eight Saudis. All were in stable condition.

The Houthis, who are fighting in neighbouring Yemen, have recently stepped up attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition battling them.

A spokesman for the Houthis said the group had carried out a "large operation" targeting the airport, according to the group's Al-Masirah TV.

Saudi owned Al-Arabiya TV also said Abha Airport had resumed flights.

A Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia last month died from wounds sustained in a drone attack on Abha Airport that was claimed by the Houthi movement in Yemen. (Reporting by Mohamed El-Sherif; writing by Eric Knecht; editing by G Crosse and Sandra Maler) </s> Yemen's Houthis launched an attack on Abha civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Sunday that killed one person and wounded 21 others, the Saudi-led coalition battling the group in Yemen said.

Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV earlier said that the rebels had targeted Abha and Jizan airports in the south of the kingdom with drone attacks.

"A terrorist attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militia targeted Abha airport, killing a Syrian resident and wounding 21 civilians," the coalition said in a statement carried on Saudi state television.

It did not confirm an attack on Jizan airport, the Reuters news agency reported.

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said a suspected drone hit the parking lot in Abha airport, which is about 200km north of the Yemen border and serves domestic and regional routes.

Saudi state TV said flights had resumed at the airport, where operations were now running normally.

Earlier this month, a Houthi missile hit Abha airport in a strike that wounded 26 people.

The Western-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government that was ousted from power in Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.

The Saudi-led coalition has continued its campaign of air strikes against Houthi-held areas which has caused thousands of deaths since 2015.

The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the past month amid rising tension between Iran and Gulf Arab states allied to the United States.

Riyadh has accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with the weapon used in the 13 June attack on Abha airport. Tehran and the Houthis deny coalition charges that Iran supplies the Houthis with missiles and drones.

The coalition has targeted Houthi military sites around the capital Sanaa and Hodeidah port city.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Britain and the US, in a joint statement published by the Saudi Embassy in Washington on Sunday, voiced concern about the escalation in Houthi attacks - without any mention of the latest drone launches.

The quartet also voiced concern about "dangers posed by Iranian destabilising activity" to peace and security both in Yemen and the broader region, citing attacks on oil tankers in Gulf waters.

Tehran has denied involvement in the tanker attacks, which no one has claimed responsibility for.

On Twitter, some Saudis expressed frustration over the latest attack on Abha airport and called it "an act of terrorism".

Others mourned the death of the Syrian resident killed in the attack.

The escalation in violence threatens a UN-sponsored deal for a ceasefire and troop withdrawal from Hodeidah, which became the focus of the war last year when the coalition tried to seize the port, the Houthis' main supply line and a lifeline for millions of Yemenis.

The quartet's statement called on all Yemeni parties to engage constructively with UN special envoy Martin Griffiths to accelerate implementation of the agreement.

The deal, reached at peace talks in Sweden last December, had stalled for months before the Houthis unilaterally withdrew from three Red Sea ports in Hodeidah last month.

The Saudi-led alliance has yet to verify the redeployment or meet it by pulling back pro-coalition troops massed on the outskirts of Hodeidah. </s> A Yemeni rebel attack on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia wounded nine civilians on Tuesday, a Riyadh-led coalition said, the latest in a series of attacks on the airport.

 

"The terrorist attack on Abha airport ... led to the injury of nine civilians, including eight Saudi citizens and one carrying an Indian passport," the military coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

 

Earlier, the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they "launched a wide operation aimed at warplanes at Abha international airport" with drones, according to their Almasirah television channel.

Abha airport has come under repeated missile and drone attacks in the past several weeks. On June 12, a rebel missile attack on Abha airport wounded 26 civilians, drawing promises of "stern action" from the Saudi-Emirati coalition.

And on June 23, another rebel attack on Abha airport killed a Syrian national and wounded 21 other civilians, according to the coalition.

The Houthis have stepped-up attacks in recent weeks against Saudi Arabia, which has been running a bloody military campaign in the Middle East’s poorest country since 2015.

The Houthi rebels took control of vast swaths of the country, including the capital Sanaa, in late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power.

The raids come amid heightened regional tensions after Washington - a key ally of Riyadh - accused Iran of shooting down a US drone over international waters and of carrying out attacks on oil tankers in the strategic Gulf of Oman.

 

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to Houthi rebels, a charge Tehran denies.

 

Following recent attacks, Saudi state media have reported an intensification of coalition air raids on rebel positions in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah and the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

 

The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and in need of aid.
Houthis launch a drone strike that kills a Syrian and wounds 21 more. The attack takes place at the Abha International Airport, which was attacked two weeks ago with a ballistic missile.