Saudi intercepts Houthi drone fired at military base in south

A second attack in a week on the Kingdom's civilian areas

Colonel Turki Al Malki, spokesman for the Arab coalition, speaks during a press conference at the security force's officers' club in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 27 August 2018. EPA

Saudi Arabia shot down a drone fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Thursday towards the south-western Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.

The unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed before they could reach their targets, said Col Turki Al Malki, spokesman for the Arab Coalition fighting in Yemen to support of the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

“The drone was launched from Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, in an attempt to target civilians,” Col Al Malki said.

The Saudi colonel denied Houthi-led media reports that the group has attacked sites near the King Khalid airbase.

"Their lies reflects the group's desperate attempts," he said.

The coalition will continue to take “strict measures against the rebels to minimize their capabilities and address the terrorist acts," he said.

"The attempts to target civilians who are protected under international humanitarian law proves the criminal ideologies," he said.

Thursday's incident is just the latest in dozens of such attacks in recent months against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Iran and the West.

It is the second attempt by the rebels to target the Kingdom's southwestern region this week. Several drones were fired on Tuesday towards the southwest province of Asser, which is near the Yemen border.

A Houthi bomb-laden drone killed one person and wounded nine others when it hit Abha airport last month.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading the Arab Coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government, which was pushed out of the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.

Last week, the UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, expressed concern about the attacks during his briefing to the Security Council.

"I am particularly alarmed by the continued attacks by the Houthis on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia," Mr Griffiths said.