World / Saudi intercepts five Yemen rebel drones in new airport attack: coalition

Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five Yemeni rebel drones in the second aerial attack on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said.

The drones targeted Abha airport, where a rebel missile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded, and the nearby city of Khamis Mushait, which houses a major airbase, the coalition said in a statement released by Saudi state media.

"The royal Saudi air defence force and air force successfully intercepted and destroyed five unmanned drone aircraft launched by Huthi militia towards Abha international airport and Khamis Mushait," the statement said.

In this Dec. 14, 2017 file photo, the remains of an Iranian Qasef-1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, used as a one-way attack to dive on targets and then detonating its warhead, which was fired by Yemen into Saudi Arabia, according to then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, is seen during a press briefing at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington. Saudi Arabia said drones attacked one of its oil pipelines as other assaults targeted energy infrastructure elsewhere in the kingdom on Tuesday, May, 14, 2019, shortly after Yemen's rebels claimed a coordinated drone attack on the Sunni power.

In this Dec. 14, 2017 file photo, the remains of an Iranian Qasef-1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, used as a one-way attack to dive on targets and then detonating its warhead, which was fired by Yemen into Saudi Arabia, according to then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, is seen during a press briefing at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington. Saudi Arabia said drones attacked one of its oil pipelines as other assaults targeted energy infrastructure elsewhere in the kingdom on Tuesday, May, 14, 2019, shortly after Yemen's rebels claimed a coordinated drone attack on the Sunni power.   | Photo Credit: AP

The airport was operating normally with no fights disrupted, the statement added.

Huthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported earlier that the Iran-aligned rebels had carried out drone attacks on Abha Airport.

The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 that has exacted a heavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and drone attacks across the border in recent weeks.

Wednesday's missile strike hit the civil airport in the mountain resort of Abha, which is a popular summer getaway for Saudis seeking escape from the searing heat of Riyadh or Jeddah.

During a media tour of the airport on Thursday, Saudi authorities said they had closed a part of the its arrival lounge after the missile tore a hole in the roof and disrupted flights for several hours.

The area was covered in bamboo scaffolding and littered with concrete debris and shards of broken glass, AFP saw.

Two passengers who suffered mild injuries recalled pandemonium and screams after a loud explosion triggered a blaze, leaving the lounge covered in smoke.

A Saudi civil aviation official said authorities were still investigating rebel claims that they fired a cruise missile at the airport.

If confirmed that would represent a major leap in the rebels' military capability, experts say.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as the rebels closed in on his last remaining territory in and around second city Aden.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

It has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 24.1 million Yemenis -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.