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Reports of missiles intercepted over Saudi

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Two rockets were intercepted on Saturday above the Saudi capital Riyadh and the southern city Jazan, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported, citing its correspondents and sources.

Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts, followed by sirens in northern districts, Reuters said. AFP reporters said they heard three explosions in the capital.

“A ballistic missile was intercepted and destroyed over Riyadh,” state-run Al-Ekhbariya television said, as cited by AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have previously launched missiles, rockets and drones on the Saudi capital and other cities.

The assault comes after all parties in Yemen’s long conflict offered support on Thursday for the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire to protect civilians from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government and the rebels all welcomed an appeal from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an “immediate global ceasefire” to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones.

The call coincided with the fifth anniversary of regional power Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen’s civil war, at the helm of a military coalition supporting the internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels.

Yemen’s broken health-care system has not so far recorded a case of the Covid-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic in a country already regarded as facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Source: Middle East Eye


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