The Houthis Attack Saudi Cities and Airports with Armed Drones and Missiles

Sana'a (dpa) – Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Sunday that they had used an armed drone to attack warplane runways at Saudi Arabia's Jizan airport near the Yemeni border.

There has been no comment from Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military campaign in Yemen against the Houthis.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks with drones and missiles on Saudi cities over the past weeks.

On Tuesday, the Houthis said one of their drones had attacked Najran airport in south-western Saudi Arabia and targeted an arms warehouse there. The coalition confirmed that attack.

The reported attacks come amid rising tensions between the US, an ally of Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen's internationally recognized government, has been fighting the Houthis, who control the capital Sana'a and other parts of the poor country.

The Saudis fear that the Houthis will give Iran a strategic foothold in the Arabian Peninsula. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict.

On May 19, 2017 Saudi Arabia intercepted a Houthi-fired ballistic missile targeting, a deserted area south of the Saudi capital and most populous city Riyadh. This missile attack was followed by another one on 27 October 2016, allegedly aimed towards the Holy Mosque in Mecca ("Makkah Al-Mukarramah, the prayer direction of Muslims and the Cradle of Revelation"), which was condemned by a special Emergency Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 17 November 2017.

On 19 December 2017, a direct attack on Riyadh by another ballistic missile was intercepted, allegedly"Iranian-made", launched by"Iranian-supported rebels" and aimed at the Saudi royal palace.

Another special Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the OIC on 21 January 2018 in Jeddah condemned the attack, decrying it as an aggression on the KSA, and taking it as "evidence of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias' refusal to cooperate with the international community and accept international resolutions", referring to the resolution adopted in the Mecca Conference in November 2016 and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.