Yemeni rebel drones targeting a civilian airport in southernSaudi Arabia were intercepted on Thursday, a Riyadh-led military coalitionsaid, as the Iran-linked group steps up attacks on the kingdom.
The drones targeted Jizan airport, the coalition said in astatement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.
The coalition did not report any damage or casualties. Huthirebels earlier claimed drone attacks on the airports in Jizan and Abha, thecapital of southern Asir province, according to the group’s Al-Masirah TV.
The coalition did not confirm the attack on Abha. The rebelsin Yemen — who have faced persistent coalition bombing since March 2015 whichhas exacted a heavy civilian death toll — have stepped up missile and droneattacks across the border in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, a Yemeni rebel attack on Abha airport left ninecivilians wounded, the coalition said.
On June 12, a rebel missile attack on Abha airport wounded26 civilians, drawing promises of “stern action” from the coalition.
And on June 23, another rebel attack on Abha airport killeda Syrian national and wounded 21 other civilians, according to the coalition.
The raids come amid heightened regional tensions afterWashington accused Iran of shooting down a US drone over international watersand of carrying out attacks on oil tankers in the strategic Gulf of Oman.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplyingsophisticated weapons to Huthi rebels, a charge Tehran denies.
The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni governmentin 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as therebels closed in on his last remaining territory in and around the second cityAden.
Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands ofpeople, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.
The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describesas the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced andin need of aid.