Saudis intercept Houthi missile fired at Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's air defense unit said on Friday that it had shot down a Houthi ballistic missile around 200km (120 miles) southwest of the capital, Riyadh.

The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that it had "intercepted a ballistic missile that was launched by Houthi militias over an unpopulated area."

Read more: Two years on, Saudi intervention in Yemen leaves trail of death

The Houthi movement reported through its official news agency that the Burkan-1 missile had been fired at Riyadh.

Regional power struggle

What began as a largely domestic conflict has morphed into a regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with neither side appearing prepared to lay down their arms.

In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war against the Iran-allied Houthi rebels in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. 

On Friday, the Saudi-owned network, Al-Arabiya TV, reported that the coalition had been "massively" bombing a missile base just outside of the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

After two years of fighting, the conflict has displaced 3 million people, left nearly 8,000 dead and injured more than 42,000. Some 19 million people - two-thirds of the population - are in need of humanitarian aid.

Both Houthi rebels and Saudi coalition have been accused of committing war crimes. 

Houthi missile marks Trump visit

The Houthi missile launch came just a day ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia.

Read more: Trump in Saudi Arabia - counterterrorism and weapons deals 

High on the agenda will be a series of US-Saudi security deals, with reports suggesting that the Trump administration is prepared to step up non-lethal support for the coalition.

US officials told the Associated Press news agency that the administration planned to announce a $110 billion arms and military training deal with Saudi Arabia. The move would mark a significant reversal in policy from former President Barack Obama, who curbed the US' role in the Yemeni conflict as civilian deaths began to spike.

dm/gsw (Reuters, AFP)