Saudi-led coalition says intercepts missiles, drones from Yemen's Houthis

Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition said on Monday it intercepted and destroyed four missiles and six explosive drones launched overnight by Houthi forces towards the kingdom, Reuters reports.

Cross-border attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement have escalated since late May when a truce prompted by the novel coronavirus expired. In late June, missiles reached the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The coalition, in a statement published by the Saudi state news agency SPA, did not say where the objects where intercepted, but said the drones had been launched from the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa towards Saudi Arabia.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said details of a broad military operation inside Saudi Arabia carried out by Houthi forces would be announced later.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

UN source: Yemen’s Houthis agree to give UN access to abandoned tanker 

The Houthis, who control most large urban centres, say they are fighting a corrupt system.

Houthi-run news outlet Al Masirah said the coalition had carried out airstrikes on various regions under Houthi control on Monday.

The United Nations recently launched virtual talks among the warring parties on a permanent ceasefire and confidence-building steps to restart peace negotiations.

But discussions have been complicated by the surge in violence since the ceasefire expired.

The war has killed more than 100,000 people and caused what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.