Saudis repel Scud missile from Yemen

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Scud missile fired on its territory by rebel forces in neighbouring Yemen early yesterday as momentum gathers for peace talks in Switzerland next weekend.

“The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted it with a Patriot missile,” said a statement from the Saudi-led coalition which has been waging an air war against the rebels since March 26.

Coalition aircraft destroyed the launchpad for the 2.45am (6.45am Thai time) attack on the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The missile was fired from south of the Houthi rebel bastion of Saada in Yemen’s northern mountains, it added.

Destroying the missile capabilities of the Houthis and their allies in the armed forces has been a top priority of the coalition bombing campaign.

The Scud launch came a day after rebel allies killed four Saudi troops in cross-border attacks, clouding preparations for the peace talks.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s former president on Friday attacked “several locations” on the Saudi border, sparking a battle in which dozens of the Yemenis were killed, the Saudi-led coalition said.

“The Saudi armed forces today were able to repel an attack from the Yemeni side targeting several locations in Jazan and Najran,” a coalition statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said, referring to two Saudi border districts.

“The attack turned out to be coordinated, planned and executed by a formation from the Republican Guard belonging to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh and with the support of the Houthi militia.”

Some troops loyal to Mr Saleh have been fighting along with the Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels against forces loyal to exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in a months-long war in Yemen.