ADEN: The battle for the Yemeni province of Saada is heating up, military leaders said yesterday, as a Saudi-led alliance turns its focus on the rebel bastion used to fire missiles at the kingdom, reports AFP. Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels have launched a string of ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with the war-torn country, from the northern province. In the latest attack, the coalition said it shot down a missile late Wednesday fired by the Huthis who said they targeted storage tanks of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the border province of Jizan. Hundreds of soldiers from Saudi Arabia and Sudan, both allied with the government in its war against the rebels, have arrived in the north to reinforce Yemen's troops deployed around Saada, Yemeni military officials said.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ben Dagher hailed the operation as "the end of Iran's confessional plans for Yemen, executed by its Huthi allies".