Yemen rebels launch fresh drone attacks on Saudi base

SANAA

Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched fresh drone attacks on King Khaled airbase in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

In a statement, rebel spokesman Yahia Sarie said the attacks targeted hangars and runways in the airbase in Khamis Mushait city.

No information was yet available about casualties or damage.

The Saudi-led coalition, for its part, said it had shot down drones launched by the Houthi rebels from Yemen.

Coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said the bloc is taking all possible measures and employing best practices to intercept Houthi drones and stop attacks, according to the Saudi SPA news agency.

Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when the Iran-aligned Houthi group overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated the following year when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen and supporting the country’s pro-Saudi government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the raging conflict since 2016, according to UN estimates.