Houthis claim a new attack on Abha airport: spokesman warns international airlines to avoid Saudi airports

The Houthi group claims it carried out a new attack on Saudi Arabia, this time on Abha International Airport in Asir province, as Al Jazeera reports in its Iran war liveblog. According to the group’s military spokesman, the attack was carried out with a ballistic missile late in the evening and was “precise and direct”, disrupting the airport’s air traffic.

The spokesman also warned international airlines to avoid Saudi airports, in an attempt to increase pressure on Riyadh. The Saudi authorities have not yet confirmed the claimed attack on Abha.

The claim comes just a day after Monday evening’s strikes on King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Airport in Jazan and on Najran airport, which, according to the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority, left three people injured. Kuwait and the secretary-general of the GCC condemned those attacks as a dangerous escalation.

Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure have intensified significantly in recent days, while the Saudi-led coalition has launched a counter-offensive to liberate the Bab al-Mandeb strait from the control of the Yemeni rebels.