Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile attack on port city

The attack on Jazan was the third in three days as the rebel group vowed to step up its military capability

The spokesman of a Saudi-led military coalition Turki Al-Malki gives a press conference at the Armed Forces club in Riyadh on March 26, 2018.
A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia threatened retaliation against Iran, accusing the Shiite power of being behind multiple Yemeni rebel missile attacks on the kingdom. / AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE
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Saudi Arabia shot down a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels from Yemen in the third attack on the port city of Jazan in three days, officials said.

The repulsed attack had targeted densely populated areas of the city and sent showers of shrapnel and fragments on to homes, said Col Turki Al Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition. “No casualties or damage were reported,” he was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.

The attack on Friday came after Saudi forces intercepted three Houthi missiles fired targeting Jazan, the capital Riyadh and Najran province on Wednesday. There was a further intercepted missile attack on Jazan on Thursday.

The flurry of attacks came as Yemen’s Houthi leader said on Friday that the Iran-backed group would continue to develop its capabilities.

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"As long as the aggression continues, our military capabilities will grow and develop," Abdul Malik Al Houthi said in a speech aired by the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV.

His comments followed military advances by Yemeni troops backed by the Arab Coalition and the seizure of more areas of Saada, the main rebel stronghold, on Thursday.

Arms monitor Conflict Armament Research says it has evidence that the drones used on Wednesday and other Houthi equipment were made in Iran and was not of indigenous design and construction.