​

Colonel Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, has reported that on 4th July 2019 coalition forces successfully intercepted and downed a drone launched towards the King Abdullah Airport in Jizan by Iran-backed Houthi terrorist militia in Sanaa.

This is not the first time Houthi terrorist militia have launched attacks against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. Since June, Abha International Airport in Asir Provence has been targeted on three separate occasions - 12th and 25th June and 2nd July 2019. The attacks resulted in one fatality, 56 civilian injuries and damage to the airport buildings and vehicles.* 

In addition, coalition forces successfully intercepted three further drone attacks targeting the populated residential areas of Khamis Mushayt on 25th June 2019 and in the region of Asir on 29th June 2019, as well as an earlier attempted attack on the port city of Jizan also on 29th June 2019.

Colonel al-Maliki said that the Houthi terrorist criminal group deliberately targeted civilians and civilian installations. He affirmed that ongoing measures to deter the terrorist militia and efforts to neutralise Houthi capabilities were rigorous and in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules.

________________________________

 *Reported civilian causalities include:

12th June 2019 – 26 injured, including three women and two children;

25th June 2019 – one fatality, and 21 injured, including three women and two children; and

2nd July 2019 – nine injured.