Houthi militants launched ballistic missile of Najran city

A ballistic missile was fired from Yemen toward the Kingdom’s southern border in the early hours of Friday, spokesman of the Arab Coalition to support legitimacy in Yemen, Col. Turki Al-Maliki said. The missile, he said, was directed at the southern border village of Najran targeting a civilian populated area.

The missile landed on a residential complex inhabited by resident workers. A fire at the site was put out leaving extensive property damage and only one minor injury to a worker was registered. Col. Al-Maliki said that this hostile act by the Houthi armed militias is the result of the continuous arms and missile smuggling from a regional party supporting them to threaten the security of Saudi Arabia. He added that the launch of ballistic missiles toward populated cities and villages violates international law.

UAE soldier killed: An Emirati soldier has been killed in southern Saudi Arabia while taking part in the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels, the United Arab Emirates military said. The body of corporal Saeed Matar Al-Kaabi was repatriated on Friday, the official WAM news agency reported.

The military said Kaabi was killed while "performing his national duty" in Najran province bordering Yemen, without elaborating. Some 100 Emiratis have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led intervention there began in March 2015.

On the other hand, Yemeni troops were marching towards the Al Houthi stronghold of Saada on Friday, according to a report on Al Arabiya. A banner which read “All roads lead to Saada” was lifted as the army continued to make advances in the border governorate of Jawf.

Yemeni president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi came to power in early 2012 after massive Arab Spring protests ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. In 2014, an Al Houthi-led coup placed Hadi under house arrest. Hadi was able to escape and has since shifted government headquarters to the southern port city of Aden from where he has led an offensive to liberate Al Houthi-occupied territories.

With help from the Saudi-led Arab coalition, the Yemeni army has achieved widespread gains in many provinces, but Al Houthis still control the capital, Sana’a, and most northern provinces including Hodeida, Ibb, Mahweet, Yareem, Amran, Baydha and Hajja.

The Yemeni army announced on Wednesday that Arab coalition aircraft destroyed weapons cache and military equipment of the Houthi militias the cities of Harad and Medi in Hajjah province near the Saudi border. The army said in a statement that the Arab coalition launched a series of air raids targeting a number of sites belonging to the militias. Meanwhile, on Tuesday made progress on in al-Jouf province after fierce battles with the militias.