3 Saudi children killed by Yemen shelling

By Zakaria al-Kamali

SANAA, Yemen

Three Saudi children were killed by missiles launched from Yemen on Sunday and Monday, local media reported.

Six other people were injured when a missile hit homes in the southern province of Najran. Among the casualties was the wounded mother of a boy who was killed Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ekhbariya TV channel reported, citing the kingdom’s civil defense agency.

Two young girls were killed and five of their family members injured in a cross-border attack Sunday.

Though the Saudi authorities did not identify those responsible, Yemen’s Houthi group said Sunday it had fired Katyusha rockets at a Saudi convoy in Najran, causing casualties.

The Saudi-Yemeni borderline has been witnessing rising clashes between Saudi troops and Houthi militants in recent months.

On Saturday, a Saudi child was killed and four people were injured by a missile fired from Yemen, which has been ravaged by civil war since late 2014, when Houthi rebels overran capital Sanaa and forced the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh.

The conflict escalated last year when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and restoring Hadi’s government.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than three million Yemenis have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Arab country.