Saudi missiles hit Yemen border areas

Houthi fighters say Saudi Arabia fired scores of missiles on Yemeni villages during over a dozen overnight airstrikes.

More than 145 missiles have been shot at Yemini towns in over 15 separate attacks on areas near the border with Saudi Arabia, the Muslim movement said on Thursday.

Saudi forces have been carrying out attacks on Yemen’s Houthis since early November.

The Saudi Defense Ministry has said it will keep up its air strikes until the Houthis retreat from the border between the two countries.

Riyadh has also imposed a naval blockade on northern Yemen’s Red Sea coast, saying the siege is to stop weapons from reaching the anti-government fighters.

The Houthis took arms against the Sana’a rule in 2004 in protest at the Sunni-dominated government’s repression and discrimination against the Shia minority in Yemen.

The fighters have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia of collaborating with the Yemeni government in its military crackdown on the opposition movement based in the north of the improvised Arab country.

The United States has also joined the conflict by signing a military agreement under which it will provide Sana’a forces with intelligence and training to quell the Houthis.

Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of employing al-Qaeda mercenaries and terrorists to help the army with its ongoing offensive against the Shia fighters.

The Operation Scorched Earth which began in August is believed to have forced over 55,000 Yemenis to leave their houses.