Missile fired from Yemen kills 1 in Saudi Arabia

By Ahmed al-Masri

RIYADH

A Saudi woman was killed and another seven people injured on Thursday when a missile fired from Yemeni territory fell in Saudi Arabia’s southern Jazan region.

Yahya bin Abdullah al-Qahtani, Civil Defense spokesman for the Jazan region, was quoted as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency that at 09:30 this morning (6:30 GMT) civil defense teams received a report that a missile fired from Yemen’s Samtah province had landed in the area.

The missile killed a Saudi woman and injured seven other people, al-Qahtani said.

The spokesman did not speculate as to what group fired the missile, but the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia has witnessed fierce fighting following the recent collapse of a three-month-old cease-fire between the Yemeni government and the Shia Houthi group.

The latest incident comes one day after another Saudi citizen was killed -- and several others injured -- when missiles fired from Yemen struck the same area.

In late July, Saudi media reported that the Saudi authorities had evacuated a number of border villages in the Jazan region’s Al-Dayer and Samtah provinces, amid fears they could be subject to cross-border rocket fire.

In a Wednesday statement, Ahmed Asiri, a spokesman for a Saudi-led Arab coalition, accused Yemen’s Houthi militia of "resorting to targeting civilians [in Saudi Arabia] after failing to strike military targets".

"If any attempts are made to strike targets on Saudi Arabia’s borders, the source of the attack will be identified and destroyed," he said.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing recent Houthi military gains and restoring Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.