by WorldTribune Staff, March 26, 2018
Seven missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels were intercepted by Saudi forces on March 25.
Houthi jihadists in Yemen fired three missiles at Riyadh and four others at the southern cities of Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran. The Saudi-led coalition said it used Patriot missile batteries to target the incoming missiles, which all targeted populated areas.
An Egyptian national was killed and two of his countrymen were wounded by falling shrapnel in Riyadh, authorities said.
“This aggressive and hostile action by the Iran-backed Al Houthi group proves that the Iranian regime continues to support the armed group with military capabilities,” Saudi coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said.
The Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al Arabiya aired footage that it said showed Patriot missile batteries firing at the incoming Houthi missiles. Online videos showed what appeared to be a missile fuselage lying on a street in Riyadh.
Houthi-run Al-Masira television claimed the missiles had targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport as well as other airstrips in the south of the kingdom.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that “We support the right of our Saudi partners to defend their borders against these threats. We continue to call on all parties, including the Houthis, to return to political negotiations and move toward ending the war in Yemen.”
More than 10,000 people have been killed since Houthis and their allies seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi to flee.
The fighting has displaced more than 2 million people. Nearly 1 million people have been infected with cholera.
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