Saudi forces shoot down another drone as Houthi attacks increase

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen intercepted and shot down another Houthi drone targeting the city of Khamis Mushait, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported early on Tuesday morning.

The drone was fired from Sana’a in Yemen and targeted “civilian objects”, the coalition spokesperson Colonel Turki Al-Maliki said.

The kingdom has seen a spate of Houthi drone and missile attacks in recent months with the intensity increasing in the last week.

The coalition intercepted and shot down six missiles fired by the Houthis towards the city of Jizan on Sunday evening as well as another drone targeting Khamis Mushait on Sunday morning. They also shot down Houthi drones aimed at Khamis Mushait and Jizan on Saturday.

Al Maliki said all the attempts by the Houthis to launch missiles and drones towards Saudi are “doomed to fail” and that the coalition carries out the operational procedures required to protect civilians.

He stressed that the Houthi attempts to target civilians were in clear “violation of international humanitarian law” and added that the coalition will continue to carry out “strict and deterrent measures to neutralise and destroy their capabilities”.

Saudi Arabia has been targeted by hundreds of missile and drone attacks since entering the Yemen civil war in 2015 to support ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the Houthis.

Earlier this month, Saudi forces intercepted drones heading towards “civilian airports” in the kingdom.

Read: Saudi forces intercept Houthi drones targeting two airports

In June, an attack on the Abha airport killed one person and wounded several others.

Read: One dead, 21 wounded in Houthi attack on Saudi airport