Saudi forces intercept Yemen rebel missiles targeting cities: coalition

Saudi Arabia says it downed missiles it claims Houthi insurgents fired from across the border in Yemen, targeting cities and civilians.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

21 February, 2020

Yemeni rebel missiles targeting cities in Saudi Arabia have been intercepted, the region's Riyadh-led military coalition said, in the latest cross-border attack by insurgents.

The missiles were fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi militant group, the coalition said in a statement released on Thursday by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"They were launched in a systematic, deliberate manner to target cities and civilians, which is a flagrant defiance of international humanitarian law," coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said, according to SPA.

"The capital (Sanaa) has become a Houthi militia assembly, installation and launching hub for ballistic missiles that target the kingdom," he added.

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Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as the rebels closed in on his last remaining territory in and around Aden.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and in need of aid.

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