Saudi-led coalition intercepts several Houthi drones
The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen said on Sunday it had destroyed 10 armed drones launched by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, including at least five fired towards Saudi Arabia, state television channels reported.
The coalition did not specify locations in the kingdom but
said the drones were aimed at “civilian sites”. On Saturday, the coalition said
it intercepted seven drones over 24 hours launched towards Khamis Mushait and
one towards Jazan, both in southern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis, which have been battling the military coalition
since it intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015, recently stepped up
cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities, mostly in the south of
the kingdom.
The United States and the United Nations have stepped up
diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, which is largely seen in the region as
a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Riyadh and its allies say they are fighting to restore the
rule of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, headed by President
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and removed from power following the Houthis’ takeover
of the capital in late 2014.
The Houthis, who now control most of the north, deny being
puppets of Tehran and say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign
aggression.
Fighting has also intensified on the ground in Yemen in
Marib and Taiz regions. The war, in a military deadlock for years, has killed
tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans
Frontieres, or MSF) said on Friday that Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz had treated
28 people wounded in intense clashes since Wednesday and that the hospital
itself was hit by gunfire, injuring three, including a 12-year-old boy.
In Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold,
hundreds of fighters from both sides have been killed.
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