Houthis step up drone attacks on Saudi Arabia

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – The latest hostilities coincide with rising tensions between Iran and Gulf Arab states allied to the United States.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia this week in a resurgence of tactics that had largely subsided since late last year amid United Nations-led peace efforts.

The latest hostilities coincide with rising tensions between Iran and Gulf Arab states allied to the United States and come just as a sensitive, UN-sponsored peace deal is being carried out in Yemen’s main port of Hodeida, a lifeline for millions.

The Houthis, who claimed responsibility for last week’s armed drone strikes on oil assets in Saudi Arabia, said on Tuesday that one of their drones hit an arms depot at the kingdom’s Najran aiport near the Yemeni border, causing a fire.  The Saudi-led military coalition said a civilian facility in Najran province was targeted with an explosive-laden drone.

It said on Monday that Saudi defence forces intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles fired towards the holy city of Makkah. On Sunday, the Houthis said they would attack 300 vital military targets in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Yemen.