Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi air defence on Monday intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen, the Arab coalition backing the Yemeni government said, slamming a "dangerous escalation" as peace talks with rebels falter.

"The launch of the missile at this time is a dangerous escalation by Huthi militias" and the forces of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the Saudi-led coalition in a statement.

It said the coalition is cooperating with the international community to "maintain calm and help the Kuwait (peace) talks to succeed".

The missile is the first to be reported fired from Yemen at Saudi Arabia since a ceasefire took effect last month ahead of the UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait.

The coalition said it will continue to exert self-restraint but "reserves the right to retaliate at the appropriate time and place" in the event such an attack is repeated.

The coalition said the missile was intercepted at dawn, adding that coalition's immediately destroyed the launcher inside Yemen.