MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The rebels of the Shia Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah, hit the territory of Saudi Arabia with a ballistic missile, the military command of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in Yemen said on Saturday.
The missile, launched late on Friday, did not cause any damage as it hit deserted area in the southwest of the country. The coalition military forces followed the trajectory of the missile’s flight and returned fire against the missile launch site in Yemen, the military command said as quoted by the SPA news agency.
The missile type was not specified, but Houthi forces had previously carried out attacks against Saudi zones with the Soviet-made Scud missiles and their modifications.
Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels since 2014. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the opposition Houthis at the request of ousted Hadi.
