Saudi Arabia: 5 civilians injured in Al Houthi attack

Cairo: Five civilians have been injured in southern Saudi Arabia by shrapnel from a projectile fired by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Al Houthi militia, according to a civil defence official.

The projectile landed Saturday night in a border Saudi village in the region of Jizan, also damaging three civil vehicles, spokesman for the local civil defence department, Col Mohammed Al Ghamdi added.

The five people sustained minor injuries and were transferred to hospital where they are in stable condition, he added, according to the Saudi news agency SPA.

In recent weeks, a Saudi-led alliance, fighting Al Houthis, has announced intercepting and destroying a series of explosive drones and missiles launched by the rebels targeting Saudi Arabia.

Al Houthis plunged Yemen into a civil war in late 2014 when they toppled the internationally recognised government and overran parts of the country including Sana’a.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE initiated a military campaign in Yemen against the Al Houthis in response to a request from the government there.