Al Houthis claim drone strike on Saudi city of Jizan
Militants have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in past two weeks
Dubai: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched a drone strike on military hangars in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan airport near the Yemeni border, the group’s Masirah TV reported on Sunday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or from a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling Al Houthis in Yemen for four years.
Iran-backed Al Houthis, who ousted the Saudi-backed internationally-recognised government from power in the Yemeni capital Sana’a in late 2014, have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the past two weeks.
Al Houthis launched at least three drone attacks on the airport of the Saudi city of Najran near the Yemeni border, last week.
The group also claimed responsibility for armed drone strikes on oil assets in Saudi Arabia earlier this month and said they would attack 300 vital military targets in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The latest hostilities coincide with rising tensions between Iran and Gulf Arab states allied to the United States and come just as a sensitive, UN-sponsored peace deal is being carried out in Yemen’s main port of Hodeida, a lifeline for millions.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over Al Houthi drones targeting Najran’s airport.
In comments on Wednesday, he condemned the attacks.
“He condemns these attacks, as well as any attack targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, which violate international humanitarian law,” UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Guterres called on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to remain calm, avoid further escalation of the tensions and engage in constructive negotiations with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths to achieve the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement