5 Saudis injured by cross-border fire from Yemen

By Ahmed al-Masri

RIYADH (AA) – Five Saudis were injured Tuesday by a military projectile fired from war-torn Yemen into the southwestern Saudi city of Jizan, according to the Saudi Civil Defense.

The agency said on Twitter the cross-border attack had also damaged three vehicles.

The Saudi-Yemeni borderline has been witnessing clashes between Saudi troops and Yemeni’s Shia Houthi rebels, which Riyadh accuses of being a proxy force for regional rival Iran.

Yemen has been wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated in March of last year when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi gains and supporting Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.

Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in the Yemeni conflict -- more than half of them civilians -- while another three million are estimated to have been displaced amid a spread of malnutrition and disease.