RIYADH – Saudi linkon Friday intercepted five drones in a second assault on an airportlink in the kingdom’ssouthwest in two days.
The drones targeted Abhalink airportlink, where a rebelmissile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded, and the nearby city ofKhamis Mushait, which houses a major airbase, the coalition said in astatement released by Saudilink medialink.
The latest raids come amid spiralling regional tensions after Washingtonlink Iranlink of carrying outattacks that left two tankers ablaze in the Gulf of Omanlink, the second such incident in amonth in the strategic sea lane.
“The royal Saudi link airdefence force and air force successfully intercepted and destroyed fiveunmanned drone linklaunched by Huthi militia towards Abhalink international airportlink Khamis Mushait,”the coalition statement said without reporting any casualties.
The airport link wasoperating normally with no flights disrupted, the statement added.
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Huthi-run Al-Masirah tv link reported earlierthat the militantslink hadcarried out drone link attackson Abha link airportlink.
The rebels, who have faced persistent coalition bombing since Marchlink 2015link that has exacted aheavy civilian death toll, have stepped up missile and dronelink attacks across theborder link in recentweeks and warned that coalition airports were valid targets.
The latest attacks could prompt an escalation in the coalition’s bombingcampaign as it vowed after Wednesday’s missile strike to “take sternaction” to deter the rebels and protect civilians.
