Saudi air defenses intercept Houthi missile over Najran

By Mohamed Fahd

RIYADH

Saudi air defenses late Thursday night intercepted a “ballistic missile” fired into Saudi territory by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, according to Saudi media reports.

The missile was fired toward Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Najran province, the Al-Ekhbariya television channel reported.

Yemen’s Houthi-run Al-Masira television channel, meanwhile, appeared to confirm that a Houthi artillery battery had fired a missile at a recently-built military installation in Najran from inside Yemeni territory.

No casualties have been reported.

Thursday’s missile attack was the fifth by Houthi rebels since the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began last week.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a wide-ranging military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains in Yemen and shoring up the country’s Saudi-backed government.

Riyadh has repeatedly accused the Houthis of acting as a proxy force for Shia Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe in the region.