Yemen rebel chief threatens to hit back over Saudi blockade

The leader of Yemen's powerful Houthi rebels on Thursday threatened retaliation over a land, air and sea blockade imposed on the war-torn country by a Saudi-led alliance supporting the government.

Rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned against "prolonging the blockade" imposed on Yemen following a November 4 Houthi missile attack that was intercepted near Riyadh international airport.

"Should the blockade continue, we know what (targets) would cause great pain and how to reach them," he said in a speech broadcast on the rebels' Al-Masirah television, in an implicit warning of fresh missile attacks.

The Saudi-led military coalition, which supposedly intervened in Yemen's war on President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's side in 2015, has under international pressure partially lifted the crippling blockade on Yemen, dependent on its ports for much-needed aid shipments.

While the coalition allowed some supplies into Yemen at the weekend, the United Nations on Monday renewed its call for Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies to further ease the blockade.

The conflict has pushed the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of famine, killed over 10,000 civilians, displaced three million people and left much of the infrastructure in ruins.

Another 2,100 people have died of cholera this year.