Yemen's Houthis say they launched drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Abha airport

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked the control tower of Abha airport in Saudi Arabia's southwestern province of Asir on Thursday night, according to the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea was quoted in a statement as saying that they carried out two attacks on the control tower of Abha airport, using bomb-laden drones, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Saudi airport was targeted after the rebels launched a ballistic missile toward a Saudi military school in the southwestern province of Jizan on Wednesday. The Saudi military had intercepted and downed the drone, Saudi's Al Arabiya news reported, citing a statement by the Saudi-led coalition forces.

However, the coalition has not confirmed the Houthi-claimed attack on the control tower so far.

Prior to this, as many as nine civilians were wounded in a July 3 Houthi attack on Abha airport, the coalition told Al Jazeera.

Houthis have recently stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, but most of the missiles and drones were intercepted by the kingdom's air defences.

A June 12 missile attack on the same airport wounded 26 civilians, drawing warnings of "stern action" from the coalition.

On June 23, a rebel attack on the same airport killed a Syrian and injured 21 other civilians, the coalition said.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition against Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen for more than four years in support of the exiled internationally-recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.