UPDATE – Saudi-led coalition destroys 2 rebel drones from Yemen

UPDATES WITH FIRE AT ABHA AIRPORT
By Abdullah Al-Ahmad

RIYADH (AA) – The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Wednesday it had intercepted two explosive-laden drones fired by Houthi rebels towards Saudi Arabia.

The rebel attack was a “systematic and deliberate attempt to target civilians” in southern Saudi Arabia, coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said in a statement cited by the kingdom’s official SPA news agency.

The statement did not specify where the drones were launched from.

In another statement, the coalition said it had extinguished a fire that erupted at Abha Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia due to a rebel attack.

The statement called the rebel fire a “cowardly terrorist attack,” but said nothing about casualties.

"The terrorist [Houthi] militia will be held accountable in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the coalition said.

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the coalition’s statement.

On Sunday and Monday, the coalition said its defense systems destroyed five Houthi drones fired towards Saudi territories.

The rebel movement regularly announces rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are a reaction to the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen.

Yemen has been wracked by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government has worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with nearly 80% or about 30 million of its people needing humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 13 million in danger of starving to death.

*Ahmed Asmar and Bassel Barakat in Ankara contributed to this report