Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi Abha Airport

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - Yemen’s Houthi group said Monday that it targeted Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with a drone attack.

"This afternoon, the Air Force [of the group] carried out an attack operation on Abha International Airport with Qasef-2K drone, and the strike was accurate," the group's spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement.

He went on to assert that the group's operation "will continue as long as the aggression and siege continue."

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia or the Saudi-led international coalition.

This is the first Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia since Riyadh announced an initiative from its side to solve the Yemeni crisis.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced an initiative to resolve the Yemeni crisis, including a unilateral cease-fire, hoping that Houthis would respond positively to stop the bloodshed in Yemen.

In response to the Saudi initiative, Muhammad Abdul Salam, a spokesman for the group, said: "Any stance or initiative that does not notice that Yemen has been subjected to aggression and blockade for six years, is not serious and brings nothing new."

The spokesman, however, did not declare an explicit position towards Riyadh's proposal.

Yemen has been ravaged by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises with 30 million people, 80% of the population, needing humanitarian assistance and protection.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara