Saudi Arabia shoots down Houthi missile fired at Jazan

Col Turki Al Malki said the international community must take 'more serious' steps towards stopping Iran from arming the rebels

Arab coalition spokesman Turki Al Malki speaks at a press conference at the King Salman Airbase in Riyadh on November 5, 2017. Fayez Nureldine / AFP

Saudi air defence forces shot down a ballistic missile on Tuesday night fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen towards the southwest city of Jazan.

Col Turki Al Malki, spokesman of the Arab coalition fighting the rebels on behalf of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, said the missile was targeting a heavily populated civilian area.

“It was intercepted and destroyed by the Saudi Royal Air Force,” he said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

“This hostile action by the Houthi group, which is backed by Iran, proves the Iranian regime’s continuous support for the armed Houthi group by providing them with capabilities, which is in violation of UN resolutions.

“Firing ballistic missiles towards civilian cities and towns violates international humanitarian law.”

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Col Al Malki urged the international community to take “more serious and effective” steps to stop Tehran from smuggling weapons to the Houthi rebels.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­The rebels have launched almost 90 missile attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the Yemen conflict in 2015.

A Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, intervened in the war in 2015 to fight the Iran-backed group in favour of the legitimate government of Yemen’s president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.

The civil war in Yemen has displaced more than two million people and pushed the country to the brink of famine. At least 10,000 people have been killed.