Intercepted drone shrapnel injures 12 at Saudi Abha airport

Saudi-led coalition says the injured include travellers and workers of various nationalities

DUBAI:

Twelve people were injured at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport by shrapnel from a drone intercepted by air defences on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yeman's Iran-aligned Houthi group said.

Air traffic operations returned to normal after standard safety procedures were carried out, the coalition said.

The injured included travellers and workers of various nationalities, it said in two statements carried by state media.

The coalition has been fighting the Houthis since early 2015, after the group ousted Yemen's internationally recognised government from power in the capital Sanaa.

Also read: Houthi ballistic 'missile launchpad destroyed' in Yemen

The Houthis often target Abha airport, which lies close to the Yemeni border in Saudi Arabia's south, and other parts of the country with drones and missiles. Most are intercepted but a few people have been killed and several injured.

The coalition regularly carries out air strikes on what it says are Houthi military targets in Yemen.

The United Arab Emirates, a coalition member, twice in January said its forces destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launch area in Yemen, after unprecedented drone and missile attacks on the UAE this year claimed by the Houthis.