Saudi Arabia has come under increasingly frequent missile attacks launched by the Houthis in Yemen The Kingdom’s air defense forces say they intercepted all missiles, and only one casualty has been reported RIYADH: A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia said Sunday it had destroyed sites used by Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen to launch missiles at the Kingdom. The coalition announced in a statement the “destruction over the past 24 hours of ballistic missile (launch) sites run by the Houthi militia in Saada,” a northern Yemeni province bordering Saudi Arabia and controlled by the Houthis. Riyadh and its allies are fighting alongside Yemen’s government against the Iran-backed Houthis. Saudi Arabia’s government-run Al Ekhbariya TV aired a 49 second clip showing black and white ariel footage of what it said was a coalition strike on Saada. Saudi Arabia has come under increasingly frequent missile attacks launched by the Houthis from northern Yemen this year. The Kingdom’s air defense forces say they intercepted all missiles, and only one casualty has been reported. Saudi Arabia, the biggest crude exporter in the world, last week announced it had temporarily suspended oil shipments through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait after a Houthi missile attack on an Aramco vessel. The strait connects the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and is a crucial passage for oil and trade. “The coalition will not allow the Houthi militia to build military capabilities that threaten regional waters,” the coalition said. Meanwhile, Yemeni Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Yamani said that the Iran-backed Houthi militia are still intransigent to keep warring, rejecting all peace initiatives. During a meeting in Riyadh on Sunday with French Ambassador to Yemen Christian Tetsou, Al-Yamani said that the militias are not a responsible peace partner. The Yemeni Foreign Minister reiterated the commitment of his country’s legitimate government to the political solution to guarantee the restoration of the state and the achievement of a sustainable peace in Yemen. For his part, the French Ambassador said that they are closely following the UN envoy’s efforts as well as the political and military developments, and they are committed to support the legitimate government in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to back the country’s internationally recognized government. Red Sea port of Hodeida was blockaded by the alliance earlier this year to retaliate against the rebels’ missile strikes. The blockade has since been partially lifted. On June 13 Yemeni forces launched a major offensive to retake Hodeida. Rebel-held Hodeida is the entry point for some 70 percent of imports in a country where eight million people face imminent famine.