JEDDAH Saudi military intercepted a Scud missile fired toward its south by Yemeni Army units allied to the Houthi militia on Wednesday, retaliating with airstrikes on Yemen territory.

Sanaa residents reported hearing a big roar as the ballistic missile was launched from near the city, followed by Saudi-led airstrikes on a presidential palace and a military depot for rockets.

Iran-backed Houthis said the missile was aimed at an electricity station in Jazan.

The SPA said the Saudi military destroyed the missile’s launch pad inside Yemen. It said the missile was in the Jazan region when it was intercepted early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Saudi military reinforcements mobilized toward the Al-Horth region, bordering Yemen, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel on Wednesday.

Separately, Al-Qaeda militants on Wednesday blew up an army headquarters and set up checkpoints in the group’s southeastern stronghold of Mukalla, officials in Hadramawt province said.

Wednesday’s explosion flattened the three-story army building — the command center for a zone covering Hadramawt and parts of neighboring Shabwa province.

In Aden a 100-strong Saudi force arrived late on Tuesday and was deployed at the main southern city’s international airport, military sources said. “This force’s mission is to help secure the city, where Al-Qaeda militants surfaced last weekend,” one of the sources said, referring to Aden.

— With input from agencies