Saudi coalition intercepts Houthi drone and missile in south of kingdom

Weapons fired by Iran-backed rebels from neighbouring Yemen

Yemen's Houthi rebel movement has been at war with the Saudi-led coalition since 2015.  EPA

The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday intercepted and destroyed a bomb-laden drone, launched towards civilians in the south of the kingdom by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Arab Coalition spokesman Col Turki Al Malki told the Saudi Press Agency that joint forces also intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the rebels in the port city of Jizan.

Col Al Malki called it “a deliberate, systematic manner to target civilians and civilian objects in Jizan".

“The Houthis used civilians and civilian objects to shield the launch site of the ballistic missile,” he said.

Cross-border attacks by the Houthis have increased since late May, when a truce prompted by the coronavirus pandemic ended.

Yemen has been in conflict since 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital, and much of the country’s north.

In March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.