Saudi troops intercept Scud fired from Yemen

Sanaa

 Yemeni rebels flexed their muscles yesterday by firing a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia just days before they are to sit down with the exiled, Saudi-backed regime for peace talks in Switzerland.

 Saudi Arabia said it intercepted the missile fired at its territory by the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

 The launch came a day after rebel allies killed four Saudi soldiers in cross-border attacks clouding preparations for UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva on June 14.

 "The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces intercepted it with two Patriot missiles," said the Saudi-led coalition, which has been waging an air war against the rebels since March 26.

 Coalition aircraft destroyed the launcher used in the 2:45 am (2345 GMT Friday) attack on the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait, said the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

 The missile was fired from south of the Huthi rebel bastion of Saada in Yemen's northern mountains, it added.

 A pro-Huthi military spokesman told Yemen's rebel-controlled Saba news agency that the target was the Prince Khaled air base in Khamis Mushait.

 There has been cross-border artillery and rocket fire into Saudi Arabia but virtually no missile attacks since the air war began.

 The coalition has made destroying the missile capabilities of the Huthis and their allies a top priority of its bombing campaign.