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Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 18:06
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim drone attacks on Saudi airport
By Xinhua
Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 18:06 By Xinhua

A picture taken on Nov 16, 2015 shows a Saudi F-15 fighter jet taking off from the Khamis Mushayt military airbase, some 880 km from the capital Riyadh, as the Saudi army conducts operations over Yemen. (FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP)

SANAA - Yemen's Houthi rebels on Tuesday claimed responsibility for drone attacks on a military airport in the Saudi Arabian border city of Khamis Mushait.

The Saudi-led coalition launched a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday morning, according to Sanaa's residents

"The attack was carried out by five bomb-laden drones on Monday night, targeting the hangars of warplanes and arms depots in the Saudi airport," the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV quoted Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea as saying.

"The target was accurately bombed," he said, adding the operation came in retaliation for the coalition's "military escalation, airstrikes and economic blockade."

READ MORE: Saudi-led coalition announces ceasefire in five-year Yemen war

Khamis Mushait is in the Saudi southwestern region of Asir, which borders northern Yemen.

There was no comment yet from Saudi Arabia or the coalition on the Houthi claim.

The Saudi-led coalition launched a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday morning, according to Sanaa's residents.

Separately, a total of 13 people were killed when the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen launched an airstrike on a vehicle carrying farmers in Yemen's northern province of Saada, two local medics said Tuesday.

"The airstrike on Monday afternoon hit the vehicle of fruit growers on a road near farms in the Shada district on Monday afternoon," the medics in Shada told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.

"Four children were among the killed in the airstrike," they noted.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.

ALSO READ: WHO suspends staff activity in Yemen's Houthi-held areas

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in early 2015 to support Hadi's government.

The Yemeni five-year-long war has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million and pushed more than 20 million to the brink of starvation.

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