Houthis Reportedly Launch Eight Ballistic Missiles Toward Saudi Arabia

The Yemeni militia group's missiles targeted "economic and vital targets" in the southern Saudi province of Jizan on Saturday, Houthi-run news agency Saba has reported.

The Saudi defense ministry confirmed that four missiles bound for Jizan had been intercepted, according to Saudi Arabiya TV.

Earlier Saturday, Saudi state media reported that a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Friday had killed over 50 Houthi militia, including two of the group's leaders. That attack was reported to have hit the building of the interior ministry. Militia are believed to have been meeting to discuss the death of Saleh al-Samad, the head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council and one of the leaders of the Houthi movement, who had been killed in a separate coalition airstrike.

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf states have been involved in a military operation in Yemen since March 2015. The operation is aimed at restoring the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was toppled in a series of uprisings in 2014 and 2015 by the Houthi rebels and fled to Riyadh. The coalition has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months, with Houthis reportedly launching ballistic missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia and attacking coalition warships.

The war in Yemen has led to thousands of deaths, displaced over three million people, and pushed the country to the verge of famine.