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Saudi Arabia's air defence forces have shot down a ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom's capital by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The Saudi-led military coalition involved in the civil war in Yemen confirmed it had intercepted the missile south of Riyadh.

A spokesman for the Houthis wrote on Twitter that the rebels had fired a Volcano 2-H missile towards the al-Yamama royal palace, targeting a meeting of Saudi leaders.

Witnesses described hearing an explosion as the missile fired from inside Yemeni territory was destroyed overhead.

Footage posted on social media shows a plume of smoke in the air after residents heard a blast as the projectile was intercepted by Saudi Arabia's military.

The Saudi-led coalition responded within hours by launching air strikes against Houthi positions south of Yemen's capital Sanaa.

(Image: Twitter) (Image: Twitter)

As the missile was shot down near Riyadh, shrapnel fell from the sky and landed in neighbourhoods. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Footage posted on Twitter showed the military with Saudi Arabian actor Abdullah Al-Sadhan after missile fragments fell on his home.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said the missile was aimed at populated residential areas as he accused the Houthis of violating international humanitarian law.

The government-run Center for International Communication wrote on Twitter: "Coalition forces confirm intercepting an Iranian-Houthi missile targeting south of Riyadh.

"There are no reported casualties at this time."

The attack happened shortly before Saudi Arabia was due to announce the country's annual budget.

(Image: Twitter)

Civil war in Yemen A civil war in Yemen - the Arab world's poorest country - has left at least 10,000 people dead from fighting, disease and widespread famine. The war has been raging since Houthi rebels ousted Yemen's pro-Saudi government in 2015 as two factions fought for control of the government. The Houthis and their allies have been fighting forces loyal to UN-backed President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was forced to flee as the rebels seized the capital Sanaa. The bloody war is part of a wider struggle between regional powers Saudi Arabia and its regional foe Iran, and none of those involved appear close to achieving a victory. The protracted conflict has left thousands dead following air strikes and a blockade at Yemen's ports which has allowed hunger and disease to spread. Terror groups al-Qaeda and ISIS have also launched deadly attacks and seized territory amid the conflict. Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition which has received weaponry from allies including the UK and US, while Iran has been accused of supplying ballistic missiles to the Houthis. The Saudi-led coalition has included the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, according to UN sanction monitors. Qatar has been expelled from the coalition. Calls for a peaceful resolution have been ignored and fighting has flared again in the last two months, with the death toll rising and millions still in need of humanitarian assistance. There has been a surge in civilian casualties in recent weeks after former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed by the rebels. He and his forces had been aligned with them but switched sides and turned against them.

Last month, Saudi Arabia's air defence system shot down a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport by rebels in Yemen, where a civil war has left at least 10,000 dead from fighting, disease and widespread famine.

Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the United Nations, presented evidence last week which she said proved that Iran had supplied short-range ballistic missiles to the Shiite rebels which were then fired at Saudi Arabia.

She said debris recovered after a missile was fired at Riyadh's civilian airport in November and another was fired in July earlier this year was from Iranian-made "Qiam" missiles.

She told reporters the weapons "might as well have had 'made in Iran' stickers".

Supplying arms to the rebels would be a violation of a UN resolution.

Iran has now asked for the debris so it can conduct its own investigation.

The UK, US and other allies have supplied weaponry to the Saudi-led coalition which has been accused of killing innocent civilians through air strikes and a blockade of ports.

Related video: Saudi Arabia shoots down ballistic missile near Riyadh last month

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Earlier today the UN human rights office announced it had verified the killings of 115 Yemeni civilians and other non-combatants in air strikes carried out over 11 days by the Saudi-led coalition.

Rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said UN officials are "deeply concerned" about a surge in civilian casualties from air strikes after the killing earlier this month of Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Mr Saleh was killed by the rebels, known as Houthis, after apparently switching sides and turning against his former allies.

Mr Colville told reporters the killings occurred in four northern areas from December 6 to 16, including air strikes on Yemen's rebel-run TV channel, a hospital in the port city of Hodeida and a series targeting a prison in Sanaa that killed 43.

Meanwhile a UN boss has warned that up to seven million people are at risk of starving if the Saudi-led coalition leading the fight against the Houthis continues to block humanitarian aid access to neighbouring Yemen.

Air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country were closed to stem the flow of arms to the rebels.

Humanitarian groups have called for a ceasefire so they can help thousands of civilians who are trapped by fighting.