Illustrative image.
Late on October 6, a suicide drone launched from Yemen, allegedly by the Houthis (Ansar Allah), attacked Abha International Airport in the southern Saudi province of ‘Asir.
In a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi-led coalition claimed that the drone was successfully intercepted. The coalition said that four of the airport’s workers were wounded by shrapnel from the interception.
“The Houthi attempt to target civilians at Abha’s civilian airport constitutes a war crime,” the statement reads.
Many sources reported that the workers were in fact wounded because the drone was not intercepted and managed to impact its target in Abha International Airport.
The Houthis, who keep some of their attacks on Saudi Arabia a secret, have not commented on the coalition’s claims, yet.
Less than an hour after the attack, the Saudi-led coalition announced that it had struck and destroyed a drone launch site of the Houthis in the northern Yemeni province of Saada, the heartland of the Yemeni group. The coalition claimed that the fighters who launched the drone attack on Abha were killed.
The Houthis stepped up their missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia recently in what appears to be an attempt to take advantage of the recent withdrawal of US air-defense systems from the Kingdom.
