Cairo: A Saudi-led Arab alliance said Thursday that a “limited fire” broke out at a university in a region near the border with Yemen after Saudi forces had intercepted an attack attempt by Iran-aligned Al Houthi militias.
The alliance spokesman Turki Al Maliki added that the Saudi air forces had intercepted and destroyed Wednesday evening and Thursday morning a total of four explosives-laden unmanned aerial vehicles and five ballistic missiles fired by Al Houthis towards the city of Jizan in southern Saudi Arabia.
“One such attempt targeted the Jizan University. The interception and destruction process resulted in fall and scattering of shrapnel on the campus, causing a limited fire that was brought under control without civilian casualties,” Al Maliki added, according to the Saudi news agency SPA.
Stepped up attacks
In recent months, Al Houthis have stepped up their cross-the-border attacks against the Saudi territory and civilian facilities.
Yemen has been devastated by a war that erupted after Al Houthi militia toppled the legitimate government and seized swathes of the country including Sana’a in late 2014.
Last month, Saudi Arabia launched a peace initiative, proposing a UN-overseen nationwide ceasefire in Yemen, the reopening of Sana’a airport in the Al Houthi-held capital, and restarting negotiations between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-allied rebels. The Yemeni government welcomed the initiative.
