Saudi-led coalition says it intercepts Houthi drone fired at southern Saudi Arabia

Riyadh and the Yemeni government have welcomed a truce but the Houthis want a sea and air blockade fully lifted. The conflict, seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the Arabian Peninsula nation to the brink of famine.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi forces in Yemen said on Tuesday it had destroyed an explosive drone fired towards Khamis Mushait in the south of Saudi Arabia.

A military spokesman for the Iran-aligned Houthi group then said they had fired a drone at and hit Abha International Airport, which is near Khamis Mushait. The coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

The Houthi group, which holds most of north Yemen, has kept up regular cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and a ground offensive in Yemen's Marib region at a time the United States and the United Nations are pushing for a ceasefire agreement. Riyadh and the Yemeni government have welcomed a truce but the Houthis want a sea and air blockade fully lifted.

The conflict, seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed the Arabian Peninsula nation to the brink of famine. (Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Alison Williams and Angus MacSwan)