Saudi TV: Drone attack on airport wounds 8, damages plane
Dubai (AP): A bomb-laden drone on Tuesday targeted an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia, wounding eight people and damaging a civilian plane, Saudi state television reported, the latest assault on the kingdom amid its grinding war in neighboring Yemen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the second such strike on Abha airport in the last 24 hours. The earlier attack, blamed on Yemen's Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, scattered shrapnel across the tarmac but caused no casualties.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen did not elaborate on the assault or provide details about those hurt, beyond saying that its forces had intercepted the explosive drone.
The attack comes just days after missiles and drones smashed into a key military base in Yemen's south, killing at least 30 Saudi-backed Yemeni troops and marking one of the deadliest attacks in the country's yearslong civil war. No one claimed responsibility for the strike, which bore the hallmarks the Iranian-supported rebels.
Since 2015, Yemen's Houthi rebels battling the Saudi-led military coalition have targeted international airports, along with military installations and critical oil infrastructure, within Saudi Arabia.
Those attacks, often striking near the southern cities of Abha and Jizan, have rarely caused substantial damage but wounded dozens, killed at least one person and rattled global oil markets. Within Yemen, the Saudi-led bombing campaign has drawn international criticism for killing civilians, hitting non-military targets like hospitals and wedding parties and devastating infrastructure in the Arab world's most impoverished nation.
The Yemen war has settled into a bloody stalemate even as international diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting intensify. The Houthis have accelerated their push to wrest control of the oil-rich government stronghold of Marib in recent months, and escalated their cross-border attacks on the kingdom.
Yemen's war started in 2014, when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north. The Saudi-led military coalition intervened months later to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.
The war has killed some 130,000 people and spawned the world's worst humanitarian disaster. (AP)
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Elephant calf brought from Bijnor kept under care at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Pilibhit (PTI): A 19-day-old elephant calf, brought from Bijnor, was placed under care at the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) on Sunday, an official said and added that the calf got separated from its mother in the forest area of Bijnor.
The calf was born on December 2 in the Bijnor forest area and got separated from its mother shortly after birth, the official said.
The forest department made several attempts to reunite it with its mother, but without any success. To ensure the calf's safety and better care, it was decided to transfer it to the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve on the instructions of senior officials.
On Saturday, Deputy Director Manish Singh received the calf. Special arrangements have been made in the reserve for its care. It has been kept in a safe and clean environment to provide it with a natural setting and protect it from external noise and disturbances.
Singh told reporters that raising an 19-day-old calf is challenging.
It requires a special diet as a substitute for mother's milk and constant monitoring.
He said a special team has been formed to provide 24-hour care. Since the calf is very young, it is being cared for like a newborn baby.
According to Singh, the primary responsibility for monitoring the calf's health has been entrusted to PTR's veterinarian, Dr Daksh Gangwar. Under his supervision, a complete record of the calf's health checkups, diet, and body temperature is being maintained. The team is ensuring that the calf does not contract any infection.
