Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it had foiled a new attack on its territory by the Houthi rebels of Yemen at war, a few days before their withdrawal from the American list of "
terrorist organizations
".
"
A trapped drone launched by the Houthis attempting to target Abha airport has been intercepted and destroyed,
" the Saudi-led military coalition said in a statement quoted by state television El-Ekhbariya.
Read also: Yemen: the Biden administration will erase the Houthis from the American blacklist of terrorist groups on Tuesday
This coalition has been working in Yemen since 2015 to support government forces against rebels, backed by Iran, who have recently stepped up attacks against Saudi territory.
Abha International Airport (southwest), had already been targeted Wednesday by the Houthis, a plane on the ground having suffered a fire.
Thursday, Riyadh also reported a foiled ballistic missile and drone attack launched towards its territory by the Yemeni rebels.
These recent attacks, along with offensives in northern Yemen, sparked protests from the U.S. administration of Joe Biden who said on Friday that the main Houthi leaders remained on the blacklist, in their personal capacity, although the he rebel organization will no longer be labeled a terrorist.
This classification, decided almost a month ago by former President Donald Trump, had aroused concern among international organizations regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen.
Read also: Yemen: Washington will designate the Houthi rebels as a terrorist group
The head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, indicated Friday that the withdrawal of the Houthis from this list of "
terrorist organizations
" would take effect Tuesday.
"
We consider the removal from the ranking to be a positive thing
," tweeted senior rebel official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, adding to wait for "
new decisions
" about the Saudi intervention in Yemen.
Earlier this month, Biden announced the end of "
all US support
" and "
arms sales
" to the Saudi coalition, with the US president calling the war in Yemen a "
humanitarian and strategic disaster
."
The conflict has left tens of thousands of dead and millions displaced, with a humanitarian crisis, the worst in the world according to the UN, which is worsening with the Covid-19 pandemic.
United Nations agencies warned on Friday that "
acute malnutrition threatens half of children under five
" in Yemen in 2021, or nearly 2.3 million people, of whom 400,000 could die for lack of "
urgent treatment
" .
