Air defenses intercept missile over Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Najran region
At least 26 people were injured by shrapnel when a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi militia was intercepted over Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Najran region, according to a Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.
“At 8.08 p.m. Wednesday, Saudi air-defense forces spotted the launch of a missile fired toward Najran, which was successfully intercepted and destroyed,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a statement Wednesday evening.
According to al-Maliki, the Houthis have fired a total of 189 missiles since 2015 into or toward Saudi territory, which, he said, had resulted in the death of 112 civilians and the injury of hundreds of others.
Abdul Khaliq Ali al-Qahtani, a spokesman for the Saudi Civil Defense Directorate in Najran city, told the Saudi Press Agency that 26 civilians -- including two children -- had been injured by shrapnel that rained down on the area when the missile was intercepted on Wednesday evening.
The spokesman added that 15 of those injured had been treated at the site while the remaining 11 were taken to nearby hospitals.
Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.
The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at shoring up the country’s pro-Saudi government.
