Saudi forces intercept another missile from Yemen ‘targeting civilian areas’

Saudi forces intercepted and destroyed another missile fired by the Houthis on Monday night, the spokesperson of the Arab coalition confirmed.

Colonel Turki al-Malki confirmed that the coalition air defense forces detected the missile, which was fired from the Yemeni province of Saada, at 8.22pm.

The missile was headed towards the city of Jazan, and was “deliberately launched to target civilian and populated areas”, Al Malki said.

The Saudi Royal Air Defense intercepted and destroyed the missile, and no casualties or injuries were reported.

This is the second missile attack targetting Jazan in the last two days – Saudi forces also intercepted a missile from Yemen on Sunday evening.

Read more: Saudi shoots down missile fired at Jazan

“This hostile act carried out by the terrorist Iranian Houthi militia proves that the Iranian regime is still providing them with advanced capabilities, in explicit defiance of UN resolutions 2216 and 2231, with the main objective of threatening the security of Saudi Arabia and the region,” he said.

He added that the firing of ballistic missiles at populated cities and villages is contrary to international humanitarian law.

The kingdom has been targeted by more than 186 missile attacks since entering the Yemen civil war in 2015 to support ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the Houthis.

While the majority of the attacks have been intercepted by air defences, some have also resulted in deaths, including one civilian killed in Jazan last month and three civilians killed in Jazan on June 9.

Read: One killed, 11 injured in Jazan after Saudi intercepts missile fired from Yemen

Three civilians killed in missile attack in Saudi’s Jazan

Saudi Arabia as well as the US have blamed Iran for arming the Houthis, although Tehran has denied any role in the matter.

Also read: UN panel says missiles launched at Saudi show Iranian characteristics