DUBAI— Yemen’s Houthi forces
launched a drone attack on an airport in southern Saudi Arabia, the
Iran-aligned group’s military spokesman said, a day after Riyadh presented a
new peace initiative that includes a nationwide ceasefire.
اضافة اعلان
There was no immediate confirmation by Saudi
authorities or the Saudi-led military coalition that has been battling the
Houthis for six years, of an attack on Abha airport which has been repeatedly
targeted by cross-border attacks.
“Our operations will continue as long as the
aggression and siege continue,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a
Twitter post.
Saudi Arabia and the US have urged the group to
accept the ceasefire initiative which Riyadh said would also include reopening
Sanaa airport and allow fuel and food imports through Hodeidah port, both of
which are under Houthi control.
The Houthis’ chief negotiator had told Reuters
that the Saudi offer fell short of their demand for a complete lifting of the
air and sea blockade, but that the group would continue to talk to Saudi
Arabia, the US and mediator Oman in pursuit of a peace deal.
The movement has stepped up drone and missile
attacks on Saudi Arabia, including on oil facilities, and a ground offensive to
seize Yemen’s gas-rich Marib region. The coalition has responded with air
strikes on Houthi military sites.
Yemen has been mired in violence since the
Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the
internationally recognized government from power in the capital Sanaa.
The conflict is widely seen in the region as a
proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who now control most of
northern Yemen, deny being puppets of Tehran and say they are fighting a
corrupt system and foreign aggression.
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