Houthis fire missile at Saudi capital, Riyadh

Yemen’s Houthi movement fired a ballistic missile towards the Saudi capital Riyadh today, 1,000 days since Saudi Arabia entered  the war in Yemen, its spokesman said.

Mohammed Abdussalam said on Twitter that a Volcano 2-H ballistic missile was fired towards Al-Yamama royal palace. No injuries were reported and the missile was intercepted by Saudi security forces.

A blast had been heard in the capital with a plume of smoke seen in the sky. Social media activists took to Twitter using the hashtag “sound of an explosion in Riyadh”.

There has been no immediate comment from Saudi security officials.

https://twitter.com/CIA_saudi/status/943076823415607296

The Kingdom has been locked in a war in Yemen after it answered a call by the UN-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to help restore his control of the country.

The Houthis overthrew the government seat in Sana’a in 2014 and have maintained their hold over vast swathes of the country including in the strategic Red Sea port town of Hudaydah.

As a result, Saudi Arabia has imposed a siege on the country exacerbating what has been referred to as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Saudi-led raids kill 15 Houthis in southern Yemen