Saudi air defences intercept eight Houthi armed drones - state TV

[June 19, 2021]    DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian air defences on Saturday destroyed eight armed drones launched by Yemen's Houthi movement towards the south of the kingdom, state television cited the Saudi-led coalition as saying.

The Houthi military spokesman said on Twitter that one drone was launched at a military base in Khamis Mushait. The coalition later in the day said seven drones fired towards the south of the kingdom were also intercepted.

The Iran-aligned Houthis havwe frequently targeted Khamis Mushait and other Saudi cities along the frontier in the more than six-year-old Yemen war.

A military coalition led by Riyadh intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa.

(Writing by Ghaida Ghantous and Raya Jalabi; Editing by William Mallard and Mark Heinrich)

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