Saudi-led coalition says four Houthi attacks hit targets in kingdom, no casualties

CAIRO, March 20 (Reuters) – The Saudi-led coalition said early on Sunday that the Iran-aligned Houthi group launched four attacks on the kingdom that damaged civilian cars and homes but caused no casualties, state media reported.

Saudi state news agency (SPA) said one attack targeted a water desalination plant in the city of Al-Shaqeeq, an Aramco facility in Jizan, a power station in the southern Dhahran al Janub city, and a gas facility in Khamis Mushait.

State television al-Ekhbariya later cited the coalition as saying it had intercepted and destroyed three drones that targeted economic facilities. The coalition also foiled an attack on an Aramco Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in the Saudi city of Yanbu, state television reported.

The coalition fighting in Yemen since 2015 said the latest Houthi escalation by targeting economic and civil facilities was a response to a Gulf call for talks.

The Saudi-based Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plans to invite Yemeni parties including the Houthis for consultations in Riyadh this month, two Gulf officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Houthis said they would welcome talks with the Saudi-led coalition if the venue is a neutral country, including some Gulf states, and that the priority is lifting “arbitrary” restrictions on Yemeni ports and Sanaa airport.

In a statement, the coalition added the latest escalation included ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles. It also said it is detecting and monitoring drones in the sky and intercepted a ballistic missile that aimed at targeting civilians in Jizan.

State media posted images and videos of the damage caused by the attacks.

There was no immediate comment from Houthi leaders.

Reporting by Moataz Mohamed, Yasmin Hussein and Omar Fahmy; Editing by Aurora Ellis, Daniel Wallis & Shri Navaratnam

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