RIYADH: Five people were injured, including a woman and a child, when two Houthi drones targeting civilian areas in Ƶ were intercepted and destroyed, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
“At 21:35 local time on Tuesday, the Royal Saudi Air Defense systems detected two unidentified objects headed toward civilian objects in Khamis Mushayt,” said Col. Turki Al-Maliki, official spokesman for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen. “They were directed at densely populated civilian areas, and were intercepted and destroyed according to the rules of engagement.”
Mohammed Al-Assami, a spokesman for the Directorate of Civil Defense in Asir region, said five civilians were injured by shrapnel in two residential areas. Four vehicles and a number of houses were damaged.
The coalition spokesman said that the continued attempts to target civilians in the Kingdom by Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Hodeidah Governorate — at a time when coalition forces are adhering to the cease-fire there, in accordance with the Stockholm Agreement — is an attempt to provoke the coalition into taking military action.
Al-Maliki reaffirmed the coalition’s commitment to supporting the political efforts spearheaded by Martin Griffiths, the UN’s special envoy of the secretary-general for Yemen, and Michael Anker Lollesgaard, chairman of the Redeployment Coordination Committee, to successfully implement the Stockholm Agreement.
The Joint Forces Command warned the Iran-backed Houthi militias to stop targeting civilian areas, saying that their use of such terrorist tactics will not be tolerated and all possible steps will be taken to deter and prevent them, in accordance with the customary international humanitarian law.
Earlier, Al-Maliki said the coalition is making efforts to neutralize ballistic missiles and dismantle their capabilities, as the coalition’s joint command would not allow the militia to possess weapons that threatened civilian lives and peace. He also urged Yemenis to try their best to prevent children from being captured by Houthis, who were using them as human shields and child soldiers.
Last month the coalition said it attacked drone storage sites as part of an operation launched in January to destroy the Houthis’ drone capabilities.
