Outrage over new Houthi attack on Abha airport
Militia accused of war crimes
The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen were accused of war crimes on Tuesday after they launched two armed drones targeting Abha airport and a ballistic missile aimed at Najran in the south of the Kingdom.
Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed the drones and the missile. Eight people were injured by falling debris, and an Airbus A320 civilian aircraft on the tarmac was damaged.
Of the injured, one was Saudi, one from Nepal, three from India and three from Bangladesh. One of those injured was in a critical condition in hospital.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said the drone attack on the airport “constitutes a war crime.”
Later the coalition launched an operation targeting a launchpad in Sanaa, the Houthi-occupied Yemeni capital, and said it had “destroyed the terrorist elements responsible for the attack.”
Flights at Abha International Airport were temporarily halted “to ensure the safety of incoming and departing aircraft, as well as civilians at the airport,” the coalition said.
Yousef Al-Othaimeen, secretarygeneral of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned the Houthi attack. “Endangering the lives of passengers and civilians is a cowardly terrorist act and a war crime,” he said.
Al-Othaimeen urged the international community to take a firm stance against what he called the Houthi militia’s “cowardly threats” and stop them from using ballistic missiles and weaponized drones to target civilians in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, in Yemen at least 100 Houthis have been killed in the past 72 hours in heavy fighting with Yemen government troops outside the central city of Marib.
The Houthis recently mounted several large attacks on army troops and allied tribesmen defending Marib, in Al-Mashjah, AlKasarah, Jabal Murad and Rahabah, triggering fierce clashes that left dozens on both sides dead.
The fiercest clashes were in AlKasara, west of Marib, where 23 Houthis were killed and many others wounded as warplanes from the Arab coalition destroyed three military vehicles. Eleven Houthis were captured during fighting in Rahabah, south of Marib, as army
and coalition warplanes targeted several Houthi military vehicles and military equipment.
Col. Yahiya Al-Hatemi, the military’s media director, told Arab News that at least 40 Houthis were killed in Al-Kasarah on Tuesday morning after government forces carried out a feint retreat and lured them into their position.
Government troops also scored gains west of Marib by liberating a swath of land in Malbouda, killing at least 23 fighters. Military officials say the Houthis have been drawn into a military quagmire in Marib that has largely eroded their numbers and firepower.