Saudi forces destroy Houthi drone targeting airport in Jizan

Sixteen people, including foreign nationals, were injured in Saudi Arabia when a drone launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeting an airport in the kingdom was destroyed. A coalition statement, cited by the Saudi state news agency SPA on Monday, said the drone was launched towards King Abdullah Airport in the south-western Jizan province.

According to the statement, victims suffered injuries from shrapnel during the drone interception. The coalition said the drone was fired “from Sanaa International Airport to target civilians”. “Sixteen civilians of different nationalities were injured,” it said.

Saudi state TV reported three travellers were in critical condition. It aired a short video clip of the aftermath that showed glass shattered across the floor inside the airport. The state-run Ekhbariya news channel later showed travellers moving about within Jizan’s airport and reported that flights were back to operating normally.

The incident is the second airport attack in less than two weeks blamed on, or claimed by, the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. It comes less than two weeks after a similar attempted drone attack and interception resulted in 12 people wounded at an airport in the southern Saudi city of Abha, also near the kingdom’s border with Yemen.

In response, the coalition said it destroyed a communications system used for drone attacks on February 14 located near the telecoms ministry in Sanaa. In December, the coalition said the Houthis had fired more than 850 drones and 400 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia in the previous seven years, killing a total of 59 civilians. —Agencies