SAUDI AIR DEFENDERS INTERCEPT MISSILE FROM HOUTHI STRONGHOLD

RIYADH— Saudi Arabia’s air defense forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis in the southern city of Najran, wounding 26 people with shrapnel, Saudi civil defense said on Wednesday.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said on Twitter the group had hit a Saudi National Guard camp in the border city, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis detected the missile after 8 p.m.

Iran-aligned

The Iran-aligned Houthi militants, who control Yemen’s capital Sanaa and most of the west of the country, regularly fire missiles at southern Saudi Arabia and occasionally aim for higher-value targets, such as the capital Riyadh or facilities of state oil company, Aramco.

Most of the missiles have been intercepted by the Saudi military. At least 112 civilians have been killed in such attacks since 2015, according to the coalition.

Children hurt

Saudi civil defense said two children were among the wounded in the latest missile interception. Eleven of the victims were taken to hospital for treatment.

Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Sunni Muslim Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in 2015.—