Shelling from Yemen injures 4 in Saudi Arabia

By Ahmed al-Masri

RIYADH (AA) – Four people were injured in Saudi Arabia on Friday by a military projectile fired from war-torn Yemen, according to the kingdom’s civil defense agency.

A shell struck the southwestern Jizan region, injuring three Saudis and one foreign resident, the agency said on Twitter.

It, however, did not identify the party behind the shelling.

Southern Saudi areas have witnessed similar incidents in recent days, the latest of which was on Thursday when 14 people were injured by a cross-border fire from Yemen.

Yemen 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.

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.