(Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri)
Saudi Arabia came under a drone and missile attack from Iran-supported Yemen insurgents that targeted the country's capital city, Riyadh, and other areas, government-run Saudi Press Agency announced.
Saudi military air defenses intercepted at least four ballistic missiles unleashed by the Houthi rebels at Riyadh, Jazan, and Najran, and also took down eight drones fitted with bombs, the SPA disclosed on Monday night.
A coalition led by the Kindom has been battling the Houthi rebels since 2015 in a bid to restore the government of Yemen's leader, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the insurgents have assaulted Saudi Arabia using rockets and drones on numerous occasions.
Saudi Arabia has been fighting a years-long war versus the Iranian-supported armed groups, who took control of Yemen's capital in September 2014.
The Houthis did not immediately confirm having a hand in the attack, although their Al-Masirah satellite news channel reported that their forces would issue an announcement regarding a military action in Saudi Arabia.
In the past, the Houthis have successfully launched drone and missile attacks on Saudi and its cities, which used its capability to carry out deadly air attacks that also claimed the lives of Yemeni civilians, drawing condemnation from the international community.
The insurgents largely defied a previously declared unilateral ceasefire by Saudi Arabia which launched its 2015 campaign against the rebels to back the internationally recognized government of Yemen.
The Houthis later claimed the attack, but the United States said cruise missiles from Iran were also used in the attack. Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died from the attacks and millions displaced in what the United Nations has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Efforts to advance peace in Yemen have been saddled in the past few months by infighting between forces loyal to Hadi's internationally-recognized government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council supported by the United Arab Emirates.
The Kingdom-led coalition has urged both sides to cease fire and impose a power-sharing accord that unraveled in the wake of the fighting, a step that would not only ease the killings in Yemen but also solve a discord between Saudi and its top Gulf partner, UAE.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of US officials asked State Secretary Michael Pompeo this month to pressure Saudi Arabia and Hadi to agree to a United Nations campaign for a broad cessation of hostilities and political discussions to settle the dispute.
