Saudi Arabia shoots down missile fired from Yemen
Saudi-led Arab coalition shoots down a Scud missile that was reportedly fired into the kingdom from the bordering Yemen
Rebel-aligned TV station Al Masirah broadcasted video of fighters firing rockets at Saudi positions
Saudi Arabia has reportedly shot down a Scud missile that was fired into the kingdom from Yemen by Houthi rebels and military forces allied to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"At 2:45am on Saturday morning, the Houthi militias and ousted Saleh launched a Scud missile in the direction of Khamees al-Mushait, and praise be to God, the Royal Saudi air defences blocked it with a Patriot missile," a statement by the leadership of the Saudi-led joint Arab military coalition said.
The coalition’s statement came a few hours after Saudi Arabia said that its army had repelled an offensive by Saleh and Houthi forces on its Jizan province, bordering Yemen.
Friday's fighting is reportedly started after Saleh loyalists and Houthi militants tried to infiltrate the border at Al Khouba.
Dozens of Saleh loyalists died in the attack, which Saudi Arabia has claimed to be the most deadly since the start of the Yemen conflict.
Four soldiers of the Saudi armed forces also died of injuries sustained during the battle.
"The Armed Forces repelled the offence which was aiming to penetrate the border, in an attempt to achieve, ... a moral victory to compensate the casualties among the aggressors' ranks," a Saudi statement said.
The attack occurred only a day after the Houthis agreed to join UN-backed peace talks in Geneva set for June 14.
The rebels shot several rockets at Saudi military positions, prompting the Saudi army to retaliate with artillery shelling and air support from Apache helicopter gunships.
On Friday, the Saudi-led coalition also carried out air strikes in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and city of Ibb, targeting positions of the Houthis and its allies. Rebel positions were also struck in the Dhi Naem district in Al-Bayda province and the Ataq city in Shabwa province.
The Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been bombing Houthi rebels for over two months in an attempt to restore ousted Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has now sought refuge in Saudi Arabia. Around 2,000 people have been killed and half a million displaced by the fighting.
