Riyadh: Saudi air defences on Monday intercepted a Scud missile fired at Khamis Mushait city where a major airbase is located, the coalition fighting in Yemen said.
The interception occurred “this morning at about three o’clock,” Brigadier General Ahmad Al Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said.
“They are still targeting the cities,” he said.
Roughly 100 kilometres from the Yemeni border, the King Khalid Air Base, near the city of Khamis Mushait, is at the forefront of Saudi-led air operations against Al Houthi rebels and their allies, elite troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen.
The coalition said in a statement that Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted the missile at dawn on Monday as it headed toward the southwestern Saudi region of Asir.
Coalition forces responded by targeting the launch platform inside Yemeni territory.
The Saudis have deployed Patriot missile batteries designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, which have been fired occasionally since March when the Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in support of the Yemeni government after Iran-backed Al Houthis seized much of Yemen.
Rocket fire from Yemen and border skirmishes have killed about 90 civilians and soldiers in southern Saudi Arabia since the coalition intervention began.
The United Nations says more than 6,100 people in Yemen have been killed in the conflict since March, about half of them civilians.
On Monday, the Yemeni army and the popular resistance advanced towards the capital Sana’a after having tightened their grip over the Ghailama region in the Mahali valley.
The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, quoted a statement from the state-run Yemen News Agency, as saying that according to a military source, the army and the popular resistance thwarted a counter-attack by the Al Houthis in the Masoura region following fierce battles during which a rebel leader and a number of soldiers were killed.
Yemeni President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi applauded Saudi Arabia and UAE for providing support to the Yemeni population in the liberated parts of the country.
Hadi made the remarks on Monday while presiding over a meeting with senior Yemeni officials in Aden.
“Months of war has had a devastating effect on the citizens of Yemen. We, as a government, should seriously evaluate urgent needs, including water and electricity, and provide solutions, in collaboration with our brothers in the Arab Coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” he said.
The President of Yemen also lauded the victories achieved by the national Yemeni army and the popular resistance in their fight against Al Houthi militias and their allied forces of deposed president Saleh.
