Houthi ballistic missiles target Saudi Arabia, says coalition

Yemen’s Houthi fighters have fired two ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, both of which landed in uninhabited border areas in the country’s south, according to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels.

In a statement carried by Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya TV, the coalition said the missiles were launched from the northern Yemeni province of Saada on Tuesday.

The coalition said it responded by destroying a bunker for ballistic missiles in Saada and  launchpads from which the missiles were fired.

“We are taking operational measures to neutralise and destroy sources of threat to protect civilians,” it added.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

On Monday, the Houthi group said it fired three armed drones at military sites: Abha airport and the King Khalid air base in the southern town of Khamis Mushait.

Yahya Sarea, a Houthi spokesperson, said the targets were struck.

The coalition did not confirm if those locations had been hit, but said it intercepted a Houthi drone fired towards Khamis Mushait.

Houthi attacks into Saudi Arabia have escalated in recent weeks.

On March 7, the coalition said a barrage of drones and missiles had been intercepted en route to their targets, which included an oil storage yard at Ras Tanura, site of a refinery and the world’s biggest offshore oil-loading facility.

A residential compound in Dhahran used by state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco was also hit.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis deposed the Saudi-backed government from power in the capital, Sanaa.

The conflict is widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The United Nations and the United States have urged the Houthis, who are also pressing an offensive against government-held Marib city in Yemen, to turn to negotiations rather then military escalation.

Last week, US special envoy on Yemen Tim Lenderking said a “sound plan” for a nationwide ceasefire in Yemen has been put to the Houthi leadership.