Damage after the projectile landed in the Saudi Jazan region as shown in civil defence photos.
Damage after the projectile landed in the Saudi Jazan region as shown in civil defence photos. Image Credit: Saudi Civil Defence

Cairo: Two civilians were killed by a projectile fired by Yemen’s Al Houthi rebels in a Saudi border region, a civil defence official said.

The projectile hit a store in the Samtah governorate in the region of Jazan in south-western Saudi Arabia, killing a Saudi citizen and a Yemeni expatriate, spokesman for the General Directorate of Civil Defence Lt. Col Mohammed Al Hammadi said.

Seven other civilians, including six Saudis and a Bangladeshi resident, sustained minor to medium injuries resulting from the flying shrapnel, he added. Two stores and 12 cars were damaged too.

Al Houthis have plunged Yemen into a devastating war after they unseated the internationally recognised government and seized some parts of the impoverished country including the capital Sana’a in late 2014.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia led a military campaign in Yemen in response to a request from the government there.

In recent months, the Iran-aligned rebels have ramped up their cross-the-border attacks into the Saudi territory.