Saudi Arabia intercepts, destroys ballistic missile in Najran Region; Houthi rebels claim responsibility

Riyadh, January 5: Saudi Arabia on Friday intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels which targeted the spot in the Najran Region of the country. Notably, this is the third incident that took place within a time period of two months and another potential flashpoint in the volatile Saudi-Iranian relationship. There was no casualty reported.

 

Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels which targeted the spot in the Najran Region of the country. But before it could hit the target the Saudi forces intercepted the missile and destroyed it. Immediately after the incident, the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for firing the rocket towards the camp in the Najran Region of Saudi Arabia.

Importantly, this is the third time that a Houthi missile has come this close to a heavily populated area of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is around 1,000 kilometers, north of the country's border with Yemen.

This is the third incident when Houthi rebels fired ballistic missiles targeting Saudi Arabia. Earlier in the month of December last year, Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over its capital city Riyadh.

Interestingly, it was the same type of missile that was launched in the month of November last year at one of the kingdom's major international airports on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh. Saudi officials blamed Iran for being behind the launch of the Burkan 2-H rocket and described it as an act of war.

The civil war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 civilians and displaced 3 million others. Yemen is also suffering from the disastrous outbreak of cholera due to which 2180 civilians are killed while suspect cases have reached to 8,72,415 in the time period of 6 months.