SAUDI ARABIA 'DOWNS SCUD MISSILE FIRED BY YEMEN REBELS'

Rebel-aligned TV station Al Masirah broadcasted video of fighters firing rockets at Saudi positions [YouTube/Al Masirah]

Riyadh, 19 Sha’ban 1436/6 June 2015 (MINA) – Saudi Arabia has said it has shot down a Scud missile fired into the kingdom by Houthi opposition and forces allied to the former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

“At 2:45am on Saturday morning, the Houthi militias and ousted [president] Ali Abdullah Saleh launched a Scud missile in the direction of Khamees al-Mushait, and praise be to God, the Royal Saudi air defences blocked it with a Patriot missile,” a statement by the leadership of the Saudi-led joint Arab military coalition said.

The statement came just hours after Saudi Arabia said its army had repelled an offensive by Saleh forces backed by Houthis fighters on its Jizan province, which borders Yemen, according to state media, Al Jazeera quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Dozens of armed men, believed to belong to Republican Guard units loyal to Saleh, died in Friday’s attack, which the Saudi security sources said was the biggest since the conflict in Yemen began.

The Saudi armed forces said in a statement that four of their soldiers had died of injuries sustained during the attack.

“The Armed Forces repelled the offence which was aiming to penetrate the border, in an attempt to achieve, … a moral victory to compensate the casualties among the aggressors’ ranks,” the Saudi statement said.

Friday’s fighting is believed to have started when units of soldiers loyal to Saleh and Houthi fighters tried to infiltrate the border at Al Khouba. (T/P001/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)