Saudi Intercepts Six Yemen Rebel Missiles: Coalition

Riyadh, Aug 25 (AFP) Saudi Arabia intercepted six missiles fired by Yemeni rebels at the southern city of Jizan on Sunday, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, as the insurgents escalate cross-border attacks.

The missiles fired by the Iran-aligned Huthis targeted civilians in Jizan, the coalition said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency. No damage or casualties were reported.

The rebels' Al-Masirah television said the Huthis had launched 10 "Badr 1" ballistic missiles targeting military aircraft and apache helicopters in Jizan airport and nearby military sites.

Earlier Sunday, the coalition said they shot down a Huthi drone fired towards the southern city of Khamis Mushait, site of a major military base.

The Huthi rebels have stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks in recent months, saying they are in retaliation for the Saudi-led air war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Huthis, a charge Tehran denies.

Tensions in the Gulf have soared since May.

US President Donald Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone.

The US and Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for multiple attacks on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 after the Huthis seized the capital Sanaa and closed in on the government's temporary base of Aden.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

It has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. (AFP)

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