Yemen Houthi rebels 'fire long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia'

Saudi Arabia has said that it intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Monday, and that it may reconsider a truce that has been in place between their coalition and anti-government forces since April.

This comes after pro-Houthi television channel Al-Masirah said on Monday that the rebels had launched a long range missile across the Saudi border. 

The Saudi response was reported by the kingdom's official Saudi Press Agency.

"The coalition command, through this statement, assert that violating the truce by the Al Houthi militia and its supporters and the targeting of the kingdom's lands ... would force the coalition to reconsider the feasibility of this policy [of self restraint]," the SPA said.

The agency also quoted the statement as having said that the attack was the second of its type this month. This most recent missile was destroyed mid-air, with no casualties reported.

Saudi air force units were deployed following attack, destroying the base from which the projectiles were fired.

Since the ceasefire was established in April, both sides have accused on another of violations, while peace talks have trudged along in the background.

Fragile peace efforts

	UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed recently reported progress in Yemen's peace talks [Getty]

The United Nations' Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Monday expressed concern about the constant violations, emphasising their seriousness with regards to the efforts to restoring peace to the Middle East's poorest country.

"Stabilising the situation is a fundamental demand of the Yemeni people," Kuwait's state news agency quoted the envoy as having said on Monday.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed's comments came after bilateral meetings with Yemeni representatives from both sides in Kuwait.

He also highlighted that security concerns were at the top of the agenda of the rival factions he had met with.

Military deadlock

Riyadh intervened in Yemen's civil war in March last year, in an attempt to re-establish the authority of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. 

Hadi was forced to flee the country after Houthi militias, backed by loyalists of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Iran, took the capital Sanaa and advanced on Hadi's stronghold of Aden.

The war has killed more than 6,200 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people.