Alwaght- Yemeni forces have reportedly launched ballistic missile at the Saudi capital Riyadh on the eve of US President's visit to the Arab kingdom.
According to a report by Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, the Yemeni forces, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, launched a Borkan-2 (Volcano-2) ballistic missile, a domestically modified rocket, aimed at the Saudi capital on Friday evening.
The report also carried a statement by the Yemeni army, saying the missile strike conveyed "a clear and important message that we are all ready to respond to the aggression."
The report, however, gave no further detail, including the exact impact location, the possible casualty toll and the extent of potential damage inflicted.
Meanwhile, the Saudi military announced that it had intercepted and destroyed a projectile some 200 kilometers west of Riyadh, without giving more details.
The missile attack was a retaliatory measure as the US-backed Saudi regime since March 2015 has launched a deadly aggression on neighboring Yemen, killing over 12,000 people.
Yemenis are particularly angry at Washington for being complicit in the Saudi crimes against the Yemeni nation by providing the Al Saud regime with conventional and banned weapons.
Donald Trump has reportedly chosen the Persian Gulf Arab state as his first foreign visit to finalize an immediate $100-billion and a $300 billion decade long controversial arms deal with the regime.
The Friday launch that came just hours before Trump's arrival in Riyadh for a two-day visit was an objection to Washington's support for Saudi regime's slaughtering of innocent Yemeni civilians who in addition to war are suffering from transport blockade imposed by Al Saud.
The blockade is hampering the delivery of crucial humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine, while Saudi airstrikes have contributed to deterioration of civilian infrastructure, such as water treatment plants. The UN says 17 million people in Yemen are at imminent risk of famine.
Saudi Arabia's over two-year aggression and an all-out blockade on Yemen have led to outbreak of cholera that has claimed lives of at least 250 people.
The World Health Organization says nearly 23,500 suspected cases of cholera have been registered in war-ravaged Yemen in the past three weeks.
"The speed of the resurgence of this cholera epidemic is unprecedented," Nevio Zagaria, WHO country representative for Yemen, told reporters in a conference call on Friday in Geneva. "We need to expect something that could go up to 200,000-250,000 cases over the next six months, in addition to the 50,000 cases that have already occurred," Zagaria added. The cost in lives from this will be will be "extremely, extremely high", he said.
Yemenis' missile attacks deterrent against Saudi aggression
Back in March 18, the Yemeni army announced that another Borkan-2 missile accurately hit King Salman Air Base, located in the vicinity of Riyadh, in retaliation for the deadly Saudi war on Yemen.
On September 2, 2016, Yemeni forces also fired a similar missile against a stationary target in the Saudi city of Ta'if, located more than 700 kilometers southeast of the Saudi capital.
The Yemeni army says so far more than 100 ballistic missiles of various types have been fired at positions held by Saudi invaders inside and outside Yemen.
