Three-year-old killed in cross-border Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia

Three-year-old killed in cross-border Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia
A three-year-old was killed and his nine-year-old brother injured in a Katyusha rocket attack on Saudi Arabia's Najran, the latest Houthi cross-border attack on the kingdom.
2 min read
28 August, 2016
The Houthi rebels fired the Katyusha rocket into the kingdom on Saturday [Getty]
A three-year-old boy was killed when a rocket fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen crossed into Saudi Arabia's southern Najran region, a civil defence official said. 

The victim's nine-year-old brother was also injured in the attack, the latest cross-border attack by  Yemen's embattled rebels.

Civil defence spokesman, Major Ali al-Shahrani confirmed the Katyusha rocket attack which hit the family home.

Cross-border attacks have intensified in recent weeks since the UN-sponsored peace talks collapsed between Yemen's warring factions.

On Friday, a power station was hit in a Houthi rocket attack – the first to strike Saudi Arabia's infrastructure despite months of continuous bombardment.

Ten people have since died in the kingdom since August 16, seven of whom were killed in a single attack last week.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis since March 2015, after the rebels overran the capital and forced the internationally recognised government of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee towards the southern coastal Aden city.

Dozens of Yemenis have died after the Saudi-led coalition intensified airstrikes on Sanaa and surrounding areas since the peace talks collapsed this month.

"At least 14 civilians were killed over a 24 hour period due to Saudi airstrikes," Hakim al-Masmari told The New Arab. 

"That brings the death toll to 124 killed in the last week."

On Thursday, the United Nations called for the creation of an independent international body to investigate a series of serious violations committed by all warring factions involved in the Yemen conflict.

Around half of all civilian deaths have been blamed on Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, while attacks by groups affiliated with the Houthis were blamed for around a quarter of the deaths, Thursday's report said.

More than 6,600 have died since Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against Houthis in Yemen, forcing more than three million to flee the conflict.