DUBAI: Saudi forces intercepted an armed drone fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, the Riyadh-led coalition said, a day after a rebel strike on an airport in the kingdom.
The latest drone attack targeted the town of Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia that hosts a key air base but was destroyed before reaching its target, coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki said, quoted by the kingdom’s official SPA agency.
Several drones attacked Abha’s international airport in the kingdom’s southwest on Wednesday prompting Washington to call for an end to Houthi aggression.
The coalition said the attack set a civilian aircraft ablaze.
The United Stated reacted by calling for the rebels to “immediately stop these aggressive acts,” just days after demanding an end to any new offensive in Yemen.
US President Joe Biden, who has reversed his predecessor Donald Trump’s policy on the conflict, has deployed his new Yemen envoy to Saudi Arabia.
Tim Lenderking and his UN counterpart Martin Griffiths met Saudi’s deputy defense minister, Khaled bin Salman, who oversees the Yemen portfolio.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the attack on Abha during a call with his Saudi opposite number Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, SPA reported.
Washington has ended its support for coalition military operations in Yemen and removed the Houthis from a list of designated “terrorist” organizations but reiterated its support for Riyadh in defending its territory.
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