10 hurt in Huthis’ drone attack on Saudi airport

RIYADH: Ten people were wounded in a drone attack on a civilian airport in Jeddah that was blamed on Yemen’s Huthi rebels, official media said Saturday.

The Saudi-led coalition, quoted by the Saudi news agency SPA, said travellers and airport employees were among those injured in Friday’s attack, updating an earlier toll of five. The “Iran-backed Huthi militia” was behind the attack “using a bomb-laden drone, which resulted in (10) injuries among civilian travellers and airport staff”, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said.

The attack caused “minor material damage to glass fronts” at King Abdullah Airport in Jazan, about 60 kilometres from the Yemeni border. The coalition said the workers sustained minor injuries from the drone’s debris, SPA reported.

The latest attack comes after four workers were wounded on Wednesday when the coalition intercepted an explosives-laden drone targeting the kingdom’s Abha airport, state media said.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the US envoy on Yemen, Tim Lenderking, started a fresh peace bid that includes a stop in Saudi Arabia, which succeeded in scuttling a UN-backed probe into abuses in the conflict.