Saudi-led coalition downs Houthi drone targeting civilian areas

The Saudi-led military coalition says it has downed a Houthi drone launched from the Yemeni city of Sanaa.

1 min read

25 August, 2019

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki blamed 'Iran's proxies in the region' [Getty]

A drone launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels was intercepted and shot down on Sunday in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The drone was launched from the Houthi-held city of Sanaa and was reportedly targeting civilian areas, the Saudi-led military coalition said.

Spokesman for the coalition, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, took a swipe at Iran for its alleged backing of the rebels, saying that those "repeated terrorist attempts confirm the criminality of Iran's proxies in the region".

Al-Maliki added that Iran's "losses" are causing discontent towards Tehran.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as the rebels closed in on his last remaining territory in and around Aden.

Since then, the conflict has killed at least 91,600 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which tracks the violence.

The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and in need of aid.

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