One killed as Saudi Arabia intercepts drone launched by Yemen's Houthis

Sept 17 - A Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia was killed on Thursday in the interception of a drone, which the kingdom's civil defence said was launched by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.

The death in the southwestern governorate of Taif is the first announced by Saudi Arabia this month since the militant Houthis intensified their attacks.

A Saudi woman and a Pakistani resident were also injured in the interception. Riyadh has previously announced that 86 people were injured this month in Houthi attacks.

The Houthis did not claim any attacks on Thursday, but have previously announced military operations on southern Saudi areas.

The group said on Wednesday that 40 Saudi airstrikes targeted the Yemeni provinces of Taiz, Marib, and Hajjah in the past 24 hours.

The escalation in the Saudi-Yemen conflict runs as another theatre of the Iran war and could threaten Red Sea shipping after the Houthis seized Yemen's western coast and islands inside the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. REUTERS