Saudi Arabia said it intercepted ballistic missiles and shot down drones sent from Yemen, in the latest attack by pro-Iranian rebels that showed improved military capabilities more than three years into the conflict.One missile was intercepted over Riyadh, with loud blasts heard in the night sky above the Saudi capital on Wednesday. Two other missiles were intercepted over the southern areas of Jazan and Najran, authorities said. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it also downed a drone targeting an airport in the southwestern province of Abha and another in Jazan.
The Houthis have been aiming their ballistic missiles at major Saudi cities and targets more regularly in the past few months than any other period in the three-year war. The kingdom and its allies accuse Iran of arming the Houthis, a charge Tehran denies.Saudi Arabia and its allies have been able to recover areas in southern Yemen from the Houthis, but the rebels still control the capital Sana’a and territories in the north.The conflict has caused a humanitarian disaster with thousands of civilian deaths, disease, hunger and displacement.
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