Saudi Arabia destroys Houthi missile over Jazan

The Houthis said they were targeting Jazan's airport

Saudi soldiers reveal the remains of Iran-made missiles during a press conference at the Armed Forces club in Riyadh on March 26, 2018. Fayez Nureldine / AFP

Saudi Arabia’s air defence intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen over the southern city of Jazan, the Arab coalition said on Monday.

"At 4.39am today, the Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia from within the Saada Governorate," said coalition spokesman Turki Al Malki in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"It was deliberately launched to target civilian and populated areas, and the air defence forces succeeded in destroying it. No injuries were reported."

Al Masirah TV, the Houthis’ channel, had earlier reported that the group fired a missile at Jazan's airport, without giving further details.

The most recent missile attack comes a day after the Saudi-led coalition, which is fighting in Yemen on behalf of the internationally-recognised government — said that two missiles were fired towards Saudi Arabia’s city of Khamis Mushait on Saturday.

One was intercepted, and the other landed in the desert in an uninhabited area.

________________

Read more

________________

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia shot down four missiles in two separate incidents. Two were headed towards the southern city of Najran and two were headed towards the capital Riyadh.

A Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, intervened in the Yemen war in March 2015 to fight the rebels at the request of the legitimate government of Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, which the United States and UN experts say are of Iranian origin, a claim Tehran denies.