Saudi forces intercept ‘ballistic missile and drones’ fired by Yemeni Houthis towards kingdom as truce ends

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi movement towards the south of the kingdom on Tuesday. Several armed drones launched the previous night towards the southern city of Khamis Mushait were also intercepted, according to the military. The missile was launched towards the southern region of Najran, it added.

Violence has surged between the Western-backed alliance and the Houthi group, after Yemen's six-week ceasefire, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, expired last month, Reuters reported.

A Houthi military spokesman tweeted that the attack on Khamis Mushait was in response to coalition airstrikes. On Monday, the Houthi health minister claimed in a Twitter post that a coalition airstrike had killed 13 people, including four children, in Saada province. The movement has not immediately confirmed the missile attack.

Residents said coalition warplanes struck military sites south and west of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday. Coalition officials were later cited as saying that heavy airstrikes had been carried out on Houthi targets in Sanaa and neighboring Omran provinces.