Yemeni forces target Saudi airports in Jizan, Asir with combat drones

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said, said Yemeni army forces, said on Tuesday evening that Yemeni troops and their allies had carried out aerial assaults against designated targets at Jizan Airport and Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir, using a squadron of domestically-manufactured Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drones.

Saree further noted that the attacks led to the suspension of flights at the airports.

“The attacks on Abha and Jizan airports are in response to the crimes of Saudi-led aggressors and the ongoing siege on Yemen, which has now entered its fifth year,” the top Yemeni military official pointed out.

Saree then called on civilians and businesses to stay away from Saudi airports and military sites, stating that they are legitimate targets as long as the Saudi-led military aggression and the blockade of Yemen continue.

It is not the first attack on Abha International Airport. It was also struck by Yemeni forces on Monday, with one person killed and 8 others injured in the incident.

On June 19, Yemeni army forces, backed by fighters from Popular Committees, launched a series of airstrikes against unmanned aerial vehicles and military targets at Jizan Airport with a squadron of Qasef-2K drones.

Saree stated that air traffic at the airport was severely disrupted as a result.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.