Saudi Arabia said Saturday that it had shot down a Scud tactical ballistic missile fired into the kingdom by Houthi rebels from Yemen, local media reported.
“At 2:45 a.m. on Saturday morning [23:45 GMT on Friday], the Houthi militias and ousted [president] Ali Abdullah Saleh launched a Scud missile in the direction of Khamees Mushait, and praise be to God, the Royal Saudi air defenses blocked it with a Patriot missile.”
The city of Khamees Mushait is situated in the Asir province in Saudi Arabia’s southwest.
Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of mainly Gulf countries that has been conducting airstrikes against the Houthi positions in Yemen since late March.
The air operation was launched at the behest of displaced Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi after the Houthis seized large parts of the country, including capital Sanaa, forcing the president to flee.
