Saudi-led coalition hits Sanaa after airport attacks by Houthi rebels

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has hit military installations belonging to the Houthi rebels in the capital Sanaa, Saudi state TV said on Saturday.

The airstrikes on military positions, including air defence systems, in the capital follow several attempts this week by the rebels to target Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis launched a missile attack on Abha airport on Wednesday, an attack which Saudi Arabia says wounded 26 people.

Saudi Prince Khalid, a son of King Salman and the brother of notorious Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, unleashed a war-of-words with the Houthis in the aftermath of the  attack, which he blamed on the Yemen rebels' "patrons" Iran.

Riyadh has accused the rebels of being Iranian proxies ever since it led its allies in launching a military intervention against them in March 2015, but the rebel group has consistently denied those claims.

The Houthis have instead said their recent increase in attacks on Saudi Arabia, including the targeting of a key oil pipeline last month, was motivated by Riyadh's rejection of peace initiatives in Yemen.

Shortly after Prince Khalid's comments, Saudi-led coalition jets pounded Yemen's capital on Thursday, residents and the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said.

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The kingdom also said on Friday that its air defence forces had intercepted five Houthi drones targeting Abha airport and the city of Khamis Mushait.

Saudi Arabia has been at the helm of an international coalition at war in Yemen since 2015.

The war has resulted in the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, with almost 25 million people in need of aid.