Three explosive drones destroyed over Yemen, Saudi-led coalition says

DUBAI (Reuters) – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi group said it had intercepted three explosive-laden drones over Yemen on Wednesday, a day after shrapnel from a drone destroyed over Saudi Arabia wounded eight and damaged a civilian plane.

The three drones, intercepted and destroyed in Yemeni airspace, had been fired by the Houthis and were aimed at civilian targets, according to coalition statements reported by Saudi television channels Al-Arabiya and Ekhbariya. The Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday it intercepted a Houthi drone targeting Abha International Airport, scattering shrapnel in the vicinity of the airport in southern Saudi Arabia which wounded people and damaged a plane.

The United States condemned the Abha airport incident, calling on Houthi authorities to uphold a ceasefire and engage in U.N.-led peace negotiations. The Houthis have not commented on the incidents reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the Iran-aligned group regularly fires drones and missiles into Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing forces of the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fighting the Houthis.

(Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Edmund Blair)