Saudi says 5 wounded as Yemen rebel drones intercepted

Riyadh: Saudi air defences intercepted two drones launched by Iran-backed Al Houthi militants from neighbouring Yemen but debris wounded five civilians, including a child, a Saudi-led coalition fighting the militants said on Wednesday.

The drones targeted Khamis Mushait, home to a major airbase in the southwest of kingdom, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“At 9:35 pm (1835 GMT) on Tuesday, the Royal Saudi Air Defence systems detected two unidentified objects headed towards civilian (areas),” he said, adding they were “intercepted and destroyed”.

The Yemeni militants have repeatedly fired ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has said the missiles were all intercepted by air defences, but one civilian was killed by shrapnel.