Ryad | A projectile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen injured five civilians in a border village in southern Saudi Arabia, Saudi state media said on Tuesday, amid rising attacks on the kingdom.
These Iranian-backed rebels have stepped up attacks on the neighboring kingdom since they resumed their offensive last month to capture Marib, the last stronghold in the north of forces loyal to the government, backed by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
“A projectile fired by the terrorist militia of the Houthis supported by Iran towards one of the border villages of the region of Jizan, fell on the public road, injuring five civilians: three Saudi citizens and two residents of Yemeni nationality”, civil defense said, quoted by the official SPA news agency.
“The injured have been transferred to hospital,” she added.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.
The US embassy in Riyadh condemned the attack on Jizan, and called on the Houthis to “stop attacking innocent civilians and engage in the diplomatic process to end this conflict”.
On Saturday, strong explosions shook the capital Ryad. The coalition said it had foiled a rebel ballistic missile attack in neighboring Yemen.
Yemen’s civil war, which has lasted more than six years, has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, in what the UN routinely calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
Monday, a virtual meeting of donors ended with pledges “disappointing” according to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, collecting only $ 1.7 billion of the 3.85 billion expected.
Antonio Guterres warned that the lack of funding for humanitarian aid amounts to a “death penalty” against the Yemeni population, which is inexorably approaching the precipice of famine.