The US Navy intercepted a small boat packed with hundreds of automatic rifles in the Gulf of Aden, and has handed the sailors over to Yemeni authorities, a defense official told AFP on Thursday. Investigators have not yet determined where the boat came from or where it was headed, but it was seized in an area where the US Navy had previously confiscated Iranian-supplied arms destined for war-ravaged Yemen. The incident occurred Tuesday when sailors from the USS Jason Dunham boarded a small skiff that was having engine trouble and taking on water. On board, they found about 600 bags filled with small arms -- mostly AK-47s -- totaling more than 1,000 rifles, the official said. The skiff sailors were then transferred to the Yemeni coastguard. Their nationality was not released. Last month, Houthi insurgents, backed by Iran, fired at two oil tankers in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. On another note, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition, backing the freely elected government in Yemen, announced that Saudi air forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis from the Yemeni border province of Saada towards the city of Najran. Coalition Spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malik said that the missile was spotted Thursday evening and was deliberately launched to target populated civilian areas. The Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed the missile, he added. Several people were injured, four of whom were locals, including two women, and others were Bengali and Indian nationals. All were reported to have sustained minor injuries. He pointed out that a total of 184 ballistic missiles have been launched by the militias against Saudi territory so far.