RIYADH: Yemen’s Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile toward thesouthern Saudi province of Najran on Saturday, the group’s officialal-Masirah TV reported, and a Saudi military spokesman said air defenseforces had intercepted the missile.
The TV channel said the s-hort-range missile targeted a military base.There were no reports of casualties or damage. The Iranian-aligned Hout-hishave launched scores of missiles at the kingdom. While causing littleserious damage, they have deepened tensions between Riyadh and Tehran.
Meanwhile, official spok-esman of the Coalition Forces SupportingLegitimacy in Yemen Colonel Turki Al-Maliki said in a statement Saturdaythat “At 12:38 p.m. today, the Air Defense Forces affiliated to theCoalition have detected a ballistic missile launched by Iran-affiliatedHouthi militias from Saada Governorate towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Al-Maliki also said that the missile was directed to Najran City in orderto deliberately target civilian and populated areas. The missile wasintercepted and destroyed by the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces (RSADF),Al-Maliki added.
The Official Spokesman also said “This hostile action by Iran-supportedHouthi group proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime insupporting the Houthi armed group with qualitative capabilities, in a clearand explicit defiance and violation of UN Resolutions No. 2216 and No. 2231in order to threaten the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and theregional and international security.
Firing ballistic missiles towards populated cities and villages is contraryto the international humanitarian law.
Colonel Al-Maliki rene-wed his call for the international community to takem-ore serious and effective steps to stop the blatant Ira-nian violationsof continued smuggling and transfer of ballistic missiles and we-apons toterrorist groups and outlaws, and to hold Iran accountable for its blatantdefiance of the international norms and values as well as its threat to theregional and international security.