Four hurt as Saudi intercepts suspected Yemen militia drone
Drone attack come after coalition destroyed three booby-trapped boats
Riyadh: Four workers were wounded on Wednesday as the Saudi-led coalition fighting in neighbouring Yemen intercepted an explosives-laden drone targeting the kingdom’s Abha airport, state media reported.
The coalition blamed the attack on Yemen’s Iran-backed Al Houthi militia and said the four workers sustained “minor” injuries from the drone’s debris, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The coalition said it also destroyed the suspected site in Yemen’s northern Saada province from which the drone was launched.
On August 31, a drone hit the same airport, wounding eight people and damaging a civilian aircraft. Nestled in the kingdom’s southwestern mountains, Abha is a popular destination for Saudi tourists.
Wednesday’s drone attack came shortly after the coalition said it destroyed three booby-trapped boats on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.
“They were equipped to carry out hostile operations and imminent attacks,” SPA cited the coalition as saying.
“The coalition efforts have contributed to the protection of international shipping lanes and trade in the Bab Al Mandab strait and the southern Red Sea.”
The militia have repeatedly targeted the kingdom with cross-border drone and missile attacks.
The attacks have escalated since August as the militia press an offensive against the strategic oil-producing region of Marib, the Saudi-backed government’s last toehold in the north.