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Yemeni Rebel Missile Hits Saudi Airport, Wounding 26


Damage of Saudi Arabia's Abha airport is seen after it was attacked by Yemen's Houthi group in Abha, Saudi Arabia, June 12, 2019.
Damage of Saudi Arabia's Abha airport is seen after it was attacked by Yemen's Houthi group in Abha, Saudi Arabia, June 12, 2019.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen is vowing "stern action" after a Houthi rebel missile struck an airport near a Saudi mountain resort, wounding 26.

A coalition spokesman says an Indian national and two Saudi children are among the wounded. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening.

The spokesman is calling the missile strike a terrorist attack against civilians and considers it a war crime.

The missile hit the airport servicing the Abha resort. Some damage to the arrivals terminal was reported.

Debris is seen at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport after it was attacked by Yemen's Houthi group in Abha, Saudi Arabia, June 12, 2019.
Debris is seen at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport after it was attacked by Yemen's Houthi group in Abha, Saudi Arabia, June 12, 2019.

A Houthi spokesman says the attack was in response to what he says is Saudi Arabia's "continued aggression and blockade on Yemen."

The rebels have increased their cross-border missile strikes into Saudi territory as a reply to reported Saudi airstrikes on rebel targets.

The Saudi-led coalition has been helping the Yemeni government in trying to drive the Iranian-backed rebels out of the capital, Sana'a.

But many of the Saudi airstrikes aimed at the rebels have also struck civilian areas, hitting hospitals and wiping out entire neighborhoods, making an already desperate humanitarian crisis in Yemen even worse.

The United Nations says phase one of a peace deal in southern Yemen — calling for a Houthi military withdrawal from three major ports — is generally holding.

Saudi coalition forces say they will also pull back from the ports as soon as the details of a second phase of the peace agreement are worked out.

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