Najran intercepts an explosive-loaded drone launched by Houthis
RIYADH: Houthi “militants” released a bomb-laden drone in Yemen early Sunday in the direction of the southern Saudi city of Najran, but it was shot down, the Arab coalition commander said.
Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman of the coalition, said the drone was aimed at civilian targets in the city.
“The terrorist Houthi militia launched it in a systematic and deliberate manner to target civilian objects and civilians in the city of Najran,” Al-Maliki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Sunday’s drone attack followed another one on Saturday that was also intercepted by Saudi Air Defense Forces.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia had been accused of continuing to supply weapons to Houthi militias in Yemen through a base in Somalia.
The arms traffic has continued despite the naval blockade imposed on Yemen by the Arab Coalition supporting Yemen’s legitimate government as well as by the US Navy.
A gang of arms smugglers captured last month has revealed that the Houthis exploit poverty in Yemen to recruit fishermen as weapons smugglers, and send fighters to Iran for military training under cover of “humanitarian” flights from Yemen to Oman, the gang said.
