RIYADH: Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, Spokesman of the Arab Coalition Forces for Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen, said that at 7:56, the Air Defence Forces of the Arab Coalition detected the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemeni territory towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, quoted Colonel Al-Maliki today as saying that the missile was deliberately launched toward Najran to target its civilian areas and the local population, but it was intercepted and destroyed by the "Patriot in the Sky of Najran Brigade."

The missile’s scattered fragments caused minor damage to the private property of one citizen but no loss of life.

Al-Maliki added that this hostile action by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime in supporting the militias with qualitative capabilities, in clear and explicit defiance of UN resolutions 2216 and 2231, with the aim of threatening the security of Saudi Arabia and regional and international security, as firing ballistic missiles at densely populated cities and villages is contrary to international humanitarian law.

Colonel Al-Maliki renewed his call for the international community to take greater and more effective action to stop the blatant violations of Iran, which is continuing to smuggle and supply ballistic missiles and weapons to terrorist groups and outlaws, and to hold it accountable for its blatant defiance of international principles and values, threatening both regional and international security.

WAM