Kinumpirma ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) kagabi na bahagyang sugat lamang ang tinamo ng isang Filipino national na tinamaan sa tangkang drone attack ng Houthi militia sa Abha International Airport sa Saudi Arabia.
Ang unmanned aircraft ay naharang ng Saudi Air Defense noong Pebrero 10 ngunit ang ilan sa mga debris nito ay nahulog sa paligid ng airport, na ikinasugat ng 12 sibilyan.
Kabilang sa mga nasugatan ang isang Filipono, dalawang mamamayan ng Saudi, apat na Bangladeshi expatriates, tatlong Nepali nationals, isang Sri Lankan, at isang Indian, ayon sa report.
“The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah is in touch with the Filipino affected by the incident at Saudi airport. He sustained minor injuries but is in stable condition,” ayon sa text message ni DFA Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Gonar Musor.
Ayon sa mga awtoridad, sinabi ng Saudi Press Agency na ang drone na puno ng bomba ay “sinasadya at sistematikong” tinarget ang mga sibilyan at kawani sa Abha International Airport.
“These acts confirm the hostile nature of the militia, and its transgressions against the customary International Humanitarian Law (IHL), under which Abha International Airport is considered a Civilian Object protected by the IHL,” ayon pa rin sa kanila.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
