Houthi missile shot down

It was shot down ahead of US President Donald Trump's arrival in the kingdom.

By AFP

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Published: Sat 20 May 2017, 10:38 PM

Last updated: Sun 21 May 2017, 12:42 AM

Saudi Arabia said it shot down a ballistic missile, fired by Yemeni rebels, southwest of the capital Riyadh late on Friday, ahead of US President Donald Trump's arrival in the kingdom.
Air defence units "intercepted a ballistic missile that was launched by Houthi militias", and it fell over an unpopulated area 180 kilometres from Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement.
Trump, whose country provides weapons, intelligence and aerial refuelling for the coalition, arrived on Saturday for two days of summits with Saudi, Gulf and Muslim leaders. The missile would be the longest range attempted by the Houthi rebels and their allies, former members of Yemen's security forces linked to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, since they began retaliatory attacks against the kingdom two years ago.
Occasional ballistic missile attacks, as well as more frequent short-range rocket fire over the southern border, have been conducted after coalition air strikes against the rebels in Yemen. The coalition intervened in Yemen more than two years ago to support President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Houthi-run Al Masirah television said that the rebels' "rocket forces launched a Volcano-2 (Borkan) ballistic missile on the capital of Saudi Arabia".
This coincided with coalition air strikes against the rebel-held capital Sanaa, other tweets from Al Masirah said.
Riyadh and Washington accuse Iran of supplying weapons to the Houthis.

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