Saudi Arabia shoots down Houthi missile over Jazan

Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed fired by Yemen's Houthi movement over the southern city of Jazan, the Saudi-led coalition said on Monday.

Earlier, the Houthis said the group had fired a "Badr-1" ballistic missile at Jazan's airport, without giving any further details.

The Houthis, an Iran-allied group that holds much of Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have fired a series of missiles into the kingdom in recent months, part of a three-year-old conflict in Yemen widely seen as a proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

A US-backed military alliance intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to fight against the Houthis on behalf of the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the president in exile in Riyadh.

Iran and the Houthis dismiss Saudi accusations that Tehran arms the group.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said Saudi air defence forces destroyed the missile over Jazan and accused the Houthis of targeting residential areas, according to a report from the official Saudi Press Agency.

The Houthis have fired a salvo of missiles at Saudi Arabia in recent months, including the capital, Riyadh, while the coalition launched thousands of air strikes against Houthi-held areas, killing hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets.

Meanwhile, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported early on Tuesday that a Katyusha rocket fired by the Houthis killed several people in the Yemeni city of Marib, which is under the control of the Hadi government.