Saudi Arabia shoots down Houthi-launched missile

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen during the kingdom’s national day.

Col Turki Al Malki said the Saudi royal air force detected the launch of a ballistic missile on Saturday from Yemeni territory aimed at Saudi Arabian territory.

The missile targeted Khamis Mushait, a south-western city that is home to one of the kingdom’s biggest military bases, the King Khalid air base, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The missile was headed towards “the city of Khamis Mushait and was intercepted and destroyed without any casualties”, Col Al Malki said.

That the Houthis have access to ballistic weapons represents a threat to regional and international security and the missiles are the biggest indication that weapons are still being smuggled into the country through the rebel-controlled Hodeidah port, he said.

The Houthis and their allies are known to have access to a stockpile of Soviet missiles and other locally designed variants. Saudi Arabia has also accused Iran of providing weapons to the rebel group.

The Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, and Yemeni forces drove the Iranbacked rebels from much of southern Yemen, but the fighting became bogged down in Taez province and along the Red Sea coast.

The coalition has been fighting alongside the forces of the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi against the Houthis since March 2015.

The UN said that more than 8,400 people have been killed and more than three million displaced in Yemen’s civil war, pushing the country to the brink of famine and sparking a widespread cholera epidemic that has killed 2,048 people.