RIYADH – As many as 26 civilians were injured in a missile attack by Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement on an airport in Saudi Arabia, early Wednesday.
The missile struck Abha airport leaving over two dozen citizens injured including three women and two children, a military spokesman was quoted as saying.
The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that the wounded were of different nationalities and were taken to a nearby hospital adding that the strike proved the Houthis have aquired “advanced weapons from Iran”; the attack took place at 02:21 on Wednesday (23:21 GMT on Tuesday).
Coalition military spokesman Col Turki al-Maliki said the attack on a civilian airport, located about 200km (125 miles) north of the border with Yemen, was a serious violation of international humanitarian law and that it might constitute a war crime.
The coalition would “take urgent and timely measures to deter this terrorist militia, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects”, he added.
The fresh attack comes a day after Riyadh said it intercepted two drones fired by the Houthis. The Official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) detailed that Saudi air defence forces intercepted the drones that targeted Khamis Mushait in the kingdom’s south and caused no damage or casualties.
The rebels – who control a large part of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa – said they had targeted the King Khalid airbase near Khamis Mushait.
