Iran Allies Hit Saudis Ahead of Pompeo Visit

Yemeni rebels targeted the airport in Abha
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 23, 2019 4:35 PM CDT
Iran Allies Hit Saudis Ahead of Pompeo Visit
Protesters hold signs spelling out, "No War," outside the White House, Thursday, June 20, 2019, in Washington, after President Donald Trump tweeted that "Iran made a very big mistake" by shooting down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz in Iran.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

One person was killed and seven others were wounded in an attack by Iranian-allied Yemeni rebels on an airport in Saudi Arabia Sunday evening, the Saudi military said, as the US secretary of state was on his way to the country for talks on Iran. The Sunday attack by the Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, targeted the Saudi airport in Abha. Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis in Yemen for more than four years. A Houthi spokesman, Yahia al-Sarie, said earlier Sunday the rebels had launched drones targeting Saudi airports in the southern cities of Abha and Jizan. Saudi Arabia's military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki did not say what type of weapon was used in Sunday's attack, which took place shortly after 9pm local time, the AP reports.

The Saudi Press Agency reported that a Syrian resident of Saudi Arabia had been killed, but did not identify the nationalities of those wounded. It was the second attack in less than two weeks on Abha's airport. The Houthis launched a cruise missile at the airport on June 12, wounding 26 passengers inside. The Iranian-backed Houthis also claimed responsibility for bomb-laden drone strikes that targeted a key Saudi oil pipeline in recent weeks. Also Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was traveling to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for talks on Iran. His meetings in Saudi Arabia will be in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, about 315 miles north of where the Saudi airport was struck.

(More Saudi Arabia stories.)

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