Saudi Arabia shoots down four Houthi missiles, as Yemen rebels bury slain commander

Saudi Arabia intercepted four ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis from Yemen on Saturday, hours after a strike in Sanaa killed dozens of rebel fighters.

The strike appeared aimed at the city of Jizan in southern Saudi Arabia, according to a coalition statement. 

Although the coalition reported no casualties a local official said one man had been killed in the attack.

Jizan's civil defence spokesman Colonel Yahya Abdullah al-Qahtani told Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television that a Saudi Arabian citizen had been killed by falling shrapnel.

Houthi al-Masirah television reported Saturday they had fired eight missiles towards Jizan.

A day earlier, Saudi defence forces said they had downed a missile in the same area.

The attacks come as a public funeral was held in Sanaa for a leading Houthi official.

Saleh al-Sammad was one of the Houthis' political heads and a senior figure in the group. 

He had dubbed 2018 "the year of ballistic excellence" and defended the Houthis policy of firing missiles at Saui Arabia.

He was killed in an air raid by Saudi Arabia and its allies last week.

The Houthis have become increasingly daring in their attacks on Saudi Arabia, including attempted strikes on the capital Riyadh.

In March, an Egyptian labourer became the first known fatality in a rebel missile attack on the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia accuses its arch-rival Iran of smuggling missiles to the Houthis - a charge Tehran denies.

Saudi Arabia has since March 2015 led a coalition of Arab states fighting to roll back the Houthis in Yemen and restore its neighbour's internationally recognised government to power.

Nearly 10,000 people have since been killed in the conflict, in what the United Nations has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.