Date: Jun 12, 2019
Source: The Daily Star
Yemen rebel attack wounds 26 at Saudi airport
DUBAI: Yemeni Houthi forces launched a missile strike on an airport in southern Saudi Arabia early Wednesday which wounded 26 people, the Arab coalition said.

The coalition, which has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, said it would make a "firm" response.

A coalition statement, carried on Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, said a projectile hit the arrivals hall at Abha airport, causing material damage. Three women and two children were among the wounded, who were of Saudi, Yemeni and Indian nationalities, it said.

The Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier said the Houthi group had launched a cruise missile attack on Abha airport, which is about 200 km north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes.

"Targeting Abha airport proves that the Houthis have obtained advanced weapons from Iran," the coalition statement said, saying the attack could amount to a war crime.

The attack follows an armed drone strike last month on two oil-pumping stations in the kingdom that were claimed by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering the attack, a charge that Tehran denies.

A Houthi military spokesperson Tuesday threatened that the group, which has been battling the Saudi military alliance in Yemen for four years, would target every airport in Saudi Arabia and that the coming days would reveal "big surprises."