RIYADH: Saudi Arabia´s air defence forces intercepted a ballistic missileover Riyadh on Wednesday, state media said, after at least three blastswere heard and three clouds of smoke were seen in the sky above the capital.

Yemen´s Houthis has stepped up missile attacks on the kingdom in what itsays is retaliation for air raids by a Saudi-led coalition fighting thearmed movement.

One man was killed in Riyadh last month by debris after the military shotdown a flurry of missiles, the first casualty of the Yemen war in the Saudicapital.

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf Arab states intervened inYemen´s civil war in 2015 to try and push back the Houthis after themovement drove the internationally recognized government into Saudi exile.

The attack on Wednesday marked the fourth time in five months that missileshave flown over Riyadh, as the Houthis step up efforts to demonstrate theycan reach the Saudi capital.