Yemen's Houthi rebels fire ballistic missile on airport in Saudi capital

Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-05 04:45:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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SANAA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Shiite Houthi rebels fired a long-range ballistic missile on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday night, Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported.

"The missile force of the army fired on Saturday night a long-range ballistic missile, Borkan H2, on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh," Houthis said in a statement posted on Saba.

"The missile hit the target accurately," Saba quoted a Houthi military official as saying.

Meanwhile, Saudi government admitted that Houthi missile targeted the capital Riyadh, saying the missile fell and exploded north of the airport, according to Saudi-run Al-Arabiya satellite TV.

It said there were no casualties reported.

This is the latest in a series of ballistic missile attacks by Houthis from Yemen towards Saudi cities since Saudi intervened in the Yemeni war more than two and a half years ago.

Last week, the Houthi rebels fighting the Saudi-led coalition said they fired a ballistic missile towards a Saudi military base in the border province of Najran.

The statement said the missile hit a weapons depot of the Saudi army in Beir Askar area in Najran and destroyed it.

However, Saudi government said the mission targeted a residential complex belonging to a Saudi government-owned civil company. It said the missile demolished the complex and injured one worker.

Saudi led a military coalition of ten countries and intervened in Yemen's civil war in March 2015 to back the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Iranian-allied Shiite Houthis who stormed the capital Sanaa and controlled much of the country's north.

The coalition has yet defeated the Yemeni rebels despite thousands of Saudi-led air strikes against the rebels' targets.

More than 10,000 Yemenis, mostly civilians, have been killed in the war that also displaced more than 3 million others, according to UN agencies.

Yemen has also been hit by a deadly cholera epidemic and is on the brink of mass famine.

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