Yemen’s Houthi group said on Monday it had struck Saudi Arabia’s Abha and Jeddah airports with drones, knocking operations offline at the two international airports for two hours in a continuation of seemingly relentless attacks aimed at civilians.
The Houthis confirmed the attacks on their Twitter account, according to Reuters. There was no Saudi confirmation of disruption to the airports.
The Houthis have said they have launched attacks which have struck an air field or base in southern Saudi Arabia “almost every day for nine days,” according to Reuters. On Wednesday, Riyadh said an attack caused a fire in a civilian aircraft at Abha airport.
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said early on Monday morning it “had intercepted and destroyed an explosive-laden drone fired by the Houthis toward the kingdom.”
A threat alert issued over the weekend.
The onslaught of drone and other attacks aimed at civilians in Saudi Arabia continued as the Biden administration said last week it would rescind a decision by the previous administration to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization, a strategic decision aimed at bringing a peaceful end to the war. But Saudi Arabia, which welcomed the U.S. commitment to the Kingdom’s security, nevertheless vowed to continue to treat Yemen’s Houthis as a terrorist organization, the kingdom’s permanent representative to the United Nations said.
“Despite this, we will still deal with the Houthi militia as a terrorist organization and address its threats with military action,” Abdullah Al-Muallami, told Saudi-owned Asharq News in remarks retweeted by the kingdom’s U.N. mission on Saturday, via a separate Reuters report.
Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held calls with his U.S. counterpart, Antony Blinken, and met directly with Tim Lenderking, the new U.S. envoy to Yemen, to discuss how the two allies could work together to end the war.
Meanwhile, dozens were reportedly killed in overnight clashes in Yemen as Iran-backed Houthi rebels intensified attacks to seize the government’s last northern stronghold, officials said Sunday, per the AFP. Earlier this month, the Houthis “resumed an offensive to seize oil-rich Marib, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital Sanaa,” the AFP reports, adding, that the city’s loss “would be disastrous for Yemen’s beleaguered leadership.”
