Houthis send armed drone to attack Saudi airport

DPA, 26TH MAY, 2019 - Yemen’s Iranbacked Houthi rebels said Sunday that they had used an armed drone to attack warplane runways at Saudi Arabia’s Jizan airport near the Yemeni border.

There has been no comment from Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military campaign in Yemen against the Houthis.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks with drones and missiles on Saudi cities over the past weeks.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said one of their drones had attacked Najran airport in south-western Saudi Arabia and targeted an arms warehouse there. The coalition confirmed that attack.

The reported attacks come amid rising tensions between the US, an ally of Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been fighting the Houthis, who control the capital Sana’a and other parts of the poor country.

The Saudis fear that the Houthis will give Iran a strategic foothold in the Arabian Peninsula.