Today, Wednesday, the Houthi group announced that it had carried out an attack on the airfields of warplanes at Abha Airport (southern Saudi Arabia) with drones, while Saudi media published pictures of the wreckage of the drone and said that the attack led to a fire in a civilian plane and was brought under control.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in tweets on Twitter that the Air Force had targeted the airfields of warplanes at Abha International Airport, indicating that it was being used for military purposes.
He added that the attack was carried out by 4 "Samad 3" and "Qasef 2K" drones.
The spokesman accused Saudi Arabia of ignoring "all previous and repeated warnings" about using civilian airports for military purposes, and said that this attack comes in response to the continued aerial bombardment and the siege.
A member of the Houthi political bureau, Muhammad al-Bukhaiti, said that peace cannot be achieved if one side stops firing without the other.
Al-Bukhaiti added in an interview with Al-Jazeera that he had previously warned Saudi Arabia against targeting airports used for military purposes, and that targeting these airports is a legitimate right, as he put it.
Fire at the airport
On the other hand, the Saudi media quoted the leadership of the Saudi-Emirati coalition that a civilian plane on the grounds of Abha airport was exposed to a fire due to the Houthi group targeting the airport, and added that the fire had been brought under control.
The coalition promised the attackers to hold them accountable "in accordance with international law."
Pictures of the remnants of the bombed Qasef UAV, a copy of the Iranian "Ababil T" drone. # News_ Urgent pic.twitter.com/6bNYgsA7JM
- Urgent News (@EKH_brk) February 10, 2021
Saudi TV also reported that the coalition forces were able to intercept and destroy two drones launched by the Houthis towards the Kingdom.
According to what was reported by the coalition, the Houthis launched the two planes in a systematic and deliberate manner, targeting civilian sites and civilians in the southern region.
Saudi television released pictures of what it said were the remains of the wreckage of the bombed-out drone.
The Saudi TV, through one of its Twitter accounts, stated that this plane was a copy of the Iranian "Ababil T" march.
The head of the Center for Arab-Russian Information and Studies in Riyadh, Majid Al-Turki, said that the Houthis' allegations of the Kingdom's use of Abha airport for military purposes are misleading, and that the Kingdom will not respond to the Houthi attacks on civilians in the same way.
In another context, the Saudi Press Agency reported that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed with the United States' special envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking developments in the Yemeni arena.
The two sides also reviewed joint efforts to support means of reaching a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis.