Saudi intercepts Yemen Houthi missiles targeting cities – coalition

Yemeni Houthi missiles targeting cities in Saudi Arabia have been intercepted, the region's Riyadh-led military coalition said, in the latest reported cross-border attack by the rebel group.

The missiles were fired by the Houthis, the coalition said in a statement released on Thursday by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"They were launched in a systematic, deliberate manner to target cities and civilians, which is a flagrant defiance of international humanitarian law," coalition spokesman Turki al Maliki said, according to SPA.

"The capital, Sanaa, has become a Houthi militia assembly and an installation and launching hub for ballistic missiles that target the kingdom," he said.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.

The coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government in 2015 when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled into Saudi exile as the Houthis closed in on his last remaining territory in and around Aden.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say.

The fighting has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and in need of aid.