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Saudi Arabia's military has intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards a residential area by Yemen's Houthi rebels, it is reported.

Residents reported hearing a loud explosion over the south-western city of Najran, which is close to the border with Yemen, as the kingdom's air defence system took out the missile.

Photos posted on social media show a large cloud of smoke in the sky.

It came a day after the Iran-aligned Houthis launched a missile strike on a military training camp in the Yemeni city of Marib, killing more than 70 people and injuring dozens.

Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi told the military on Sunday it needs to be on high alert following the attack.

(Image: Google Maps)

The attack "confirms without doubt that the Houthis have no desire for peace", he said in a statement.

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for Saturday's attack.

The missile strikes killed 73 people and left dozens wounded, two medical sources told Reuters.

The sources said the attack targeted a mosque in the camp as people gathered for prayer.

Saudi state TV put the death toll from the attack at 60.

A proxy war has been playing out in Yemen between Iran and Saudi Arabia at the same time as the escalating proxy war in Iraq involving Iran and the US.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to restore Hadi's government, which the Houthis ousted from power in the capital Sanaa and is now based in the southern port city of Aden.

The Houthis deny being puppets of Iran and say they are fighting a corrupt system.