RIYADH 

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Thursday it brought down three drones launched by the Yemeni-based Houthi rebels towards Saudi Arabia’s southern region.

The coalition air defenses “intercepted the third booby-trapped drone fired by the Houthis towards the southern city of Khamis Mushait,” the coalition said in a statement cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Earlier, the agency quoted the coalition as saying that it downed two booby-trapped drones targeting the same area.

The statement condemned the rebel attacks as “hostile and barbaric” that continuously target civilian positions.

The Houthi group has not yet commented on the Arab coalition’s statement.

Houthi rebels regularly announce rocket and drone attacks on Saudi territories, saying they are a reaction to the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara