RIYADH, MARCH 31, 2018 - Saudi air defensc forces intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen at the southern city of Najran on Saturday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya Television reported. The Houthi-run Saba news agency, monitored by Reuters, earlier said a ballistic missile was fired at a Saudi National Guard base in Najran, saying it had led to "losses in the ranks of the enemy and its military equipment". In another development, a fire broke out at the Houthi-controlled Yemeni port of Hodeidah early Saturday, destroying warehouses filled with cooking fuel and foodstuffs, port workers said. They told Reuters that, as of 11: 00 GMT, fire trucks had not been able to put out the blaze in the warehousing area, which they said appeared to have been caused by an electrical short circuit. Reuters television footage showed thick plumes of smoke rising into the air and fire fighters dousing flames. Hodeidah port, on the Red Sea, handles the bulk of Yemen's imports, including critically-needed food and aid supplies. The three-year war in the country, which was already the Arab world's poorest, has pushed it to the verge of famine. "The fire destroyed huge amounts of fuel and humanitarian aid and foodstuff," a U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) employee told Reuters by telephone, adding that there would be an investigation to determine the cause. Workers said the warehouses also contained hundreds of thousands of mattresses meant for those displaced by the war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and crippled the economy. The United Nations says that three out of four Yemenis - 22 million civilians - need relief aid.
