Illustrative image, source: the Houthis media wing.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) were indeed responsible for the October 8 attack on King Abdallah Regional Airport in the southern Saudi province of Jizan, photos released by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) confirmed.
Ten people were reportedly wounded as a result of the attack which was carried out by two suicide drones. The Houthis didn’t claim responsibility for the attack.
The Saudi-led coalition acknowledged that the first suicide drone hit the airport. However, it claimed that the second drone was intercepted.
Thanks to photos released by the SPA, the drone that hit King Abdullah Airport was identified as a Qasef, a copy of the Iranian Ababil-2 made by the Houthis. The drone has a range of 150 kilometers. The Qasef-2K variant is armed with a high explosive fragmentation, HE-FRAG, warhead and equipped with a proximity fuse.
#عاجل #التحالف: طائرة مسيرة مفخخة استخدمت في محاولة استهداف المدنيين بمطار الملك عبدالله بجازان. #واس_عام pic.twitter.com/AIsps1mnLV
— واس العام (@SPAregions) October 8, 2021
The Qasef-2K suicide drone. Click to see full-size image.
The second suicide drone, which was intercepted by the Saudi-led coalition, was identified as the Samad-2, a derivative of the Iranian KAS-04 drone made by the Houthis. The drone has a range of 1,000 kilometers.
قيادة القوات المشتركة لتحالف دعم الشرعية في اليمن؛ تعرض صورًا لبقايا حطام وأجزاء الطائرة المسيرة المفخخة الثانية التي تم اعتراضها وتدميرها من قبل الدفاعات السعودية وإفشال محاولة استهداف المدنيين بمطار الملك عبدالله بـ #جازان.#واس_عام pic.twitter.com/jl201GxqJ7
— واس العام (@SPAregions) October 8, 2021
The Samad-2 suicide drone. Click to see full-size image.
The Houthis stepped up their missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia following the recent withdrawal of US air-defense systems from the Kingdom.
On October 6, four people were wounded in Abha International Airport in the southern Saudi province of ‘Asir a result of a drone attack that was attributed to the Houthis. On October 7, the Saudi-led coalition foiled a missile and drone attack that was launched from Yemen on the city of Khamis Mushait in ‘Asir.
