Afp, Riyadh

Ten people, including three Bangladeshis, were wounded in a drone attack on a civilian airport in the Saudi city of Jeddah that was blamed on Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, official media said yesterday.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government, quoted by the Saudi news agency SPA, said travellers and airport employees were among those injured in Friday’s attack, updating an earlier toll of five.

Six Saudis, three Bangladeshi nationals and one Sudanese were injured in the attack, SPA said, citing a coalition spokesman.

The “Iran-backed Huthi militia” was behind the attack “using a bomb-laden drone, which resulted in (10) injuries among civilian travellers and airport staff”, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki was quoted as saying.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the Houthis.

SPA said the attack caused “minor material damage and some broken glass fronts” at King Abdullah Airport in Jazan, about 60 kilometres from the Yemeni border.

The Shia Huthis have been stepping up attacks on Saudi Arabia, which has escalated air strikes on rebel forces closing in on Marib, the last government-held stronghold in northern Yemen.