Saudis destroy explosive drone launched by Al Houthis from Yemen

Cairo: A Saudi-led alliance, fighting the Iran-aligned Al Houthi rebels, said it had destroyed an explosives-laden unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) targeting the kingdom, the latest such attack in recent weeks.

The coalition’s spokesman Col Turki Al Malki said the alliance’s forces Friday evening had intercepted and destroyed an explosive UAV in the Yemeni airspace fired by the “terrorist” Al Houthi militia in the direction of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The drone targeted civil facilities and civilians in a “systematic and deliberate way,” he added without further details.

Over recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has announced intercepting a string of explosive drones and missiles launched by Al Houthis targeting its facilities.

Late last month, the Saudi-led coalition downed an explosive-laden drone targeting Abha airport in the kingdom’s south-western region of Asir.

Al Houthis plunged Yemen into a civil war in late 2014 when they toppled the internationally recognised government and overran parts of the country including the capital Sana’a.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE initiated a military campaign in Yemen against the Al Houthis in response to a request from the government there.