Houthi militias have downed a Saudi reconnaissance plane while it was flying over Najran Province on the border with Yemen, Saba news agency reported on Tuesday.
“The army’s air defences and the popular committees downed a reconnaissance plane belonging to the Saudi-US aggression in Najran,” the Houthi-controlled agency said.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who took over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in a September 2014 coup, also announced on Tuesday that they attacked Saudi military sites on the Yemen-Saudi Arabia border, killing a Saudi officer and injuring two others.
According to Saba, the Houthis launched missile attacks on a number of Saudi military sites near the border, in addition to targeting a Royal Saudi Navy vessel allegedly involved in jamming local radar systems. A number of sailors were killed when the vessel caught fire.
Houthis launch missile at Saudi oil refinery
Houthis on July 23 attacked a Saudi oil refinery with a ballistic missile, reported Al-Masdar.
The ballistic ‘Burkan-2’ missile hit a refinery inside the border of Saudi Arabia, in the western coast of Yanbu province. The missile travelled 1,100 kilometres without being intercepted by Saudi Arabia’s air force defence systems.
A large explosion and fire occurred upon impact, forcing Saudi firefighters to work throughout the night to extinguish the explosion.
Houthis regularly conduct military incursions and execute missiles across Saudi Arabia’s southern border.
Since 25 March 2015 a Saudi-led coalition has been launching a military campaign against the Houthi group in Yemen to prevent the spread of their control over the country.
Since the start of the war some 8,167 people have been killed and over 45,000 wounded. Over 20 million Yemenis – around one third of the population – are in need of humanitarian aid.
