Saudis intercept ballistic missile fired by Yemeni rebels

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi air defenses intercepted a “ballistic missile” fired by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels at the kingdom’s southern coastal city of Jizan, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels says.

It is the latest in a series of such attacks.

“Saudi air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi militias targeting Jizan,” the coalition says in a statement.

The Houthis, in a statement on their news outlet Al-Masirah, claim that they fired a “Badr 1” ballistic missile and say it struck Jizan Regional Airport.

AFP is unable to reach the airport for comment, but open-source flight information appears to show flights arriving and departing on time.

Saudi Arabia has since March 2015 led a coalition of Arab states fighting to roll back the Houthi rebels in Yemen and restore its neighbor’s internationally-recognized 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.

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

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

— AFP