Saudi air defences down missile fired by Al Houthis

Missile is latest in series of similar attacks by the Iranbacked militants

Saudi Arabia’s air defences intercepted a missile fired by Iran-backed Al Houthi militants, days after the insurgents’ second-in-command was killed in an air raid by Riyadh and its allies.

The missile, the latest in a series of similar attacks, was heading towards the kingdom’s southern coastal city of Jizan, state-run Al Ekhbariya television said.

In March, an Egyptian labourer became the first known fatality in an Al Houthi missile attack on Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh on Wednesday confirmed it was behind an air strike that killed Saleh Al Sammad, the number two Al Houthi leader.

The militants are to hold a public funeral for Al Sammad in Sana’a today.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition entered the Yemeni war in 2015 just months after an Al Houthi coup forced internationally-recognised Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi out of power.

Since then, the coalition has gained back 86 per cent of Yemeni territory but major population centres still remain under Al Houthi control.