A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels said.

A coalition statement, carried on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV, said a projectile hit the arrivals hall at Abha airport, causing material damage. Three women and two children were among the wounded, who were of Saudi, Yemeni and Indian nationalities, it said.

Eight of those wounded at Abha airport were admitted to hospital, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The other 18 were discharged after receiving first aid.

The coalition, which has been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, said it would make a "firm" response.

The Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier said the Houthi group had launched a cruise missile attack on Abha airport, which is about 200 km (125 miles) north of the border with Yemen and serves domestic and regional routes.

"Targeting Abha airport proves that the Houthis have obtained advanced weapons from Iran," the coalition statement said, saying the attack could amount to a war crime.

The attack follows an armed drone strike last month on two oil-pumping stations in the kingdom that were claimed by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of ordering the attack, a charge that Tehran denies.

A Houthi military spokesman on Tuesday threatened that the group, which has been battling the Saudi military alliance in Yemen for four years, would target every airport in Saudi Arabia and that the coming days would reveal "big surprises."