Houthi drone strikes Saudi Arabia's Abha airport, injuring nine civilians
A drone attack by Yemen's Houthi movement on Abha airport in Saudi Arabia early on Tuesday left nine people injured, Reuters news agency said, citing a Saudi-led coalition statement.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that the nine civilians injured in the attack included one Indian and eight Saudis. All were in stable condition.
The Houthis, who are fighting in neighbouring Yemen, have recently stepped up attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, which is leading a coalition battling them.
A spokesman for the Houthis said the group had carried out a "large operation" targeting the airport, according to the group's Al-Masirah TV.
Saudi owned Al-Arabiya TV said Abha airport had resumed flights following the attack.
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Abha is a civilian airport in south Saudi Arabia, close to the Yemeni border.
Last week, Yemen's Houthis launched an attack on the airport, which killed one person – a Syrian resident - and wounded 21 others, the Saudi-led coalition said at the time.
Al-Masirah TV similarly said that the rebels had targeted Abha airport in the south of the kingdom with drone attacks.
And on 13 June, a Houthi missile hit Abha airport in a strike that wounded 26 people.
The Western-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government that was ousted from power in Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.
The Saudi-led coalition has continued its campaign of air strikes against Houthi-held areas, which has caused thousands of deaths since 2015.
The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the past month amid rising tensions between Iran and Gulf Arab states allied to the United States.
Riyadh has accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with the weapon used in the 13 June attack on Abha airport.
Tehran and the Houthis deny coalition charges that Iran supplies the Houthis with missiles and drones.
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