BEIRUT: The Lebanese Shia militant movement Hezbollah on Monday dismissed as “ridiculous” Saudi charges that it aids Yemen’s Huthi rebels in launching strikes against the kingdom.

On Sunday, the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Huthi rebels were “militarising” Sanaa airport and using it as a “main centre for launching ballistic missiles and drones” towards the kingdom, with help from Iran and Hezbollah.

In a brief statement on Monday, Hezbollah responded: “What was said in the press conference... on so-called evidence of Hezbollah’s role in Yemen is insignificant and ridiculous and does not warrant a response.”

The Saudi accusations came as the coalition intensified an aerial bombing campaign against the Iran-backed Huthis in retaliation for deadly attacks on the kingdom, including a missile strike a day earlier which killed two people.

They were the first such deaths in the kingdom in years.