Saudi Arabia says it intercepted ballistic missile fired from Yemen

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it intercepted a ballistic missile south of its capital that was fired by a rebel group in neighboring Yemen, raising regional tensions amid Saudi claims that Iran is supplying the rebel fighters with weapons.

The attempted missile strike marked the second time that the rebels, known as Houthis, have targeted Riyadh since early November in retaliation for Saudi-led attacks seeking to break the rebels’ grip on parts of Yemen.

Col. Turki al-Malki, a Saudi coalition spokesman, said in a statement that the missile was “intercepted and destroyed” south of Riyadh. Witnesses described hearing a loud boom, and images on social media showed a plume of smoke in the sky.

A Houthi spokesman, writing on Twitter, said that a missile, known as a Volcano H-2, had targeted a royal palace in Riyadh.

Read the whole story from The Washington Post.

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