Alwaght- Yemen’s armed forces have carried out retaliatory drone attacks on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia for the second time in a week.
Yemeni Qasif-2K drones targeted the airport in the Saudi province of Asir in the early hours of Friday morning, two days after a cruise missile attack by army troopers and allied fighters from Popular Committees at the strategic Saudi facility, Yemen's al-Masirah television network reported.
There have been no immediate reports of possible casualties or the extent of damage caused as a result of the attack.
A Saudi-led coalition spokesman said in a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency that the country's air missile defense systems had intercepted five Yemeni drones over the Saudi airport on Friday morning.
On Wednesday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, said US-built surface-to-air missile systems stationed at Abha airport could not intercept the cruise missile, which he said had hit the designated target with great precision.
He noted that the missile hit the observation tower in the airport, which is about 200 kilometers north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes, causing significant disruption to air travel.
Saree pointed out that the missile attack on Abha airport was part of retaliatory measures by Yemeni soldiers and their allies in the face of the Saudi-led coalition’s crimes against Yemeni people.
Saudi Arabia also confirmed the Wednesday attack, with coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki saying in a statement that a Yemeni missile had hit the airport’s arrivals hall, injuring 26 people and causing material damage.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015 with the goal of bringing a former regime that had been submissive to Riyadh back to power.
A number of Western countries — the US and Britain in particular — supply that coalition with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.
Thousands of Yemeni civilians have been killed, while thousands more have been injured.
Much of the country’s infrastructure has also been destroyed, and a Saudi-led blockade has deprived most of the Yemeni population of clean water, food, and proper healthcare.
