Houthi rocket attack kills Saudi, wounds 6 expats in Najran

Civil Defense firefighters battle a blaze on a building caused by a rocket strike in Najran on Saturday. (SPA)

JEDDAH: A Saudi citizen was killed and six others were wounded when a rocket fired from Yemen hit a building in the southern border region of Najran on Saturday, the Directorate of Civil Defense said.
A Civil Defense spokesman in Najran said five of the wounded were Yemenis and one was a Pakistani expat.
A barrage of rockets, believed to have been fired by Shiite Houthi militants, hit the western part of Najran city at about 12:30 p.m., setting at least two buildings on fire, Al Ekhbariya online news said.
Cross-border attacks into ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ have increased since a Saudi-led Arab coalition this month stepped up air strikes on insurgent targets inside Yemen in an attempt to shore up the beleaguered government.
Saturday’s attack was the third this week.
On Friday, five foreign residents of Najran were wounded in a rocket strike just west of the city.
Seven civilians were killed on Tuesday when the city center was shelled, with three victims said to be expats.
Tuesday’s toll was the highest reported number of civilian casualties in ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ for a single day since the Arab coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
More than 100 civilians and soldiers have been killed in southern ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ by retaliatory rocket strikes or skirmishes since the coalition began operations in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government.

(Additional input from Agence France Presse)