Coalition: Houthis attempting to expand use of drones in Yemen

The spokesman for the coalition fighting to support the legitimate Yemeni government told reporters on Sunday that overnight operations targeted Houthi drone capabilities across several sites in Sanaa.

At his weekly press conference in Riyadh, Col. Turki al-Maliki said that the Houthis received drones from Tehran and offered satellite images showing Iranian-made “Ababil-T” Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at specific Houthi-held bases in the capital.

“For more than a year, the Houthis have been attacking Saudi Arabia’s vital areas, such as Abha’s airport and tried to attack Aramco,” al-Maliki said.

The coalition spokesperson also showed images proving the Houthis had access to the Iranian single-engine medium-altitude long-endurance drone “Shahed 129”.

He said that a coalition operation in Sanaa late on Saturday targeted a Houthi site used in the manufacturing and assembly of drones and an air base in eastern Sanaa which was previously used as a launch pad site for Surface-to-Air (SAM) type 6 air defense systems.

“The Houthis are trying to use civilians as human shields, but we have taken all precautions,” al-Maliki said.

Sources said the operation late on Saturday targeted several Houthi-held camps including one which was formally called the First Armored Division camp when it was held by the Yemeni army before the Houthis took over.

The al-Siyana, al-Hifa’a and the al-Nahdain military compounds as well as the al-Dailami air base were also targeted.