Saudi Arabia said Wednesday (January 17th) it had intercepted a fresh missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis (Ansarallah) on the south of the kingdom and renewed its accusations that Iran had armed them, AFP reported.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah television channel reported the Iran-backed group had fired two missiles at Saudi border provinces, but there was no immediate mention of a second from the Arab coalition that has been fighting them since 2015.
Arab coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said Saudi air defences had intercepted one missile over Jizan province on the Red Sea coast late Tuesday.
The Houthis said they had fired a second at a military base in Najran province, inland and just across the border from their stronghold of Saada.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, al-Maliki accused Iran of arming the Houthis "in clear and explicit violation" of UN Security Council resolutions.
Since November, the Houthis have fired multiple missiles into Saudi Arabia, all of which Saudi forces say they intercepted.
A report by a UN panel of experts earlier this month found Iran in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which imposed an arms embargo on Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi. Iran denies arming the Houthis.
