Houthi missile intercepted

JEDDAH: A Yemeni rebel missile was intercepted over the Kingdom Monday, the Saudi-led Arab coalition said.

The coalition said the missile, directed at Jazan, caused no casualties. The coalition destroyed the missile launch pad, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The coalition fighting in Yemen called on Sunday for the UN to place a strategic port under its supervision after 42 Somalis were killed in an attack on their refugee boat nearby.

The refugees had departed from the western port city of Al-Hodeidah en route to Sudan when it came under fire in an incident aid workers said had involved a helicopter.

The Red Sea port near the Bab Al-Mandab strait is under the control of Yemen’s armed Houthi movement, which has been fighting the Arab coalition for over two years.

While the alliance denied responsibility for the attack on Friday, it called for jurisdiction over Al-Hodeidah port to be transferred to the UN.

“This would facilitate the flow of humanitarian supplies to the Yemeni people, while at the same time ending the use of the port for weapons smuggling and people trafficking,” it said in a statement.

It is still unclear who was behind the assault.

Meanwhile, the UN called for an inquiry into the attack.

“Many questions remain unanswered on the circumstances of this horrific event,” said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, in a statement.

“We call on all parties to the conflict to make proper inquiries to ensure accountability and to prevent this from happening again,” he added.

Iolanda Jaquemet, a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said: “We do not know who carried it out, but survivors said they came under attack from another boat at 9 p.m.”

The crew used lights and shouted to signal this is a civilian boat. Nevertheless, it did not have any effect and a helicopter joined in the attack, said Jaquemet.