Saudi shoots down Houthi drone, TV reports

Saudi Arabia’s air defence systems shot down a drone over the kingdom today, the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said, and it accused the country’s Houthi fighters of launching the aircraft and targeting civilians, Reuters reported.

Some civilians suffered light injuries from debris when the drone was shot down, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki said, according to Saudi state television .

The aircraft had been heading towards residential areas in Abha, around 230 kilometres north of the border with Yemen, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said.

An inspection of the wreckage showed the drone had “Iranian characteristics and specifications,” Al-Maliki said.

READ: Houthis say they seized areas in Saudi Arabia

Yemen has been devastated by a war between forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and those allied to the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, backed by Iran.

Tensions between the warring parties have heightened in recent weeks over a stalled United Nations-led peace deal in the port of Hudaydah.