Yemen’s Houthis Claim New Attacks on Saudi Base, Airport

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Friday they launched a drone attack on a military airbase and an airport in Saudi Arabia, stepping up their offensive on the kingdom’s energy and security installations. The attack, using bomb-laden drones, comes a day after they hit a Saudi Aramco fuel depot in Jeddah with a Quds-2 cruise missile, roiling oil markets.

Friday’s assault on the King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern city of Khamis Mushait was the second in as many days. The attacks also targeted the international airport in Abha, in the south of Saudi Arabia, Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Houthi armed forces said in a statement There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.

It was not clear how much damage the strikes had caused. Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rarely claim lives or cause extensive damage but their frequency has increased, creating unease in the Gulf, a region key to global oil production and transit.

Tensions have mounted as U.S. President Joe Biden explores rejoining a 2015 accord designed to reduce Iran’s nuclear activities. He’s also vowed to bring an end to the conflict in Yemen, which the UN says has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s United Nations-recognized government since 2014 and have taken over the capital Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year on the side of the government.

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