Yemen rebel missile kills Saudi soldier

Riyadh: A Saudi soldier was killed by a missile fired by rebels in Yemen that struck a military base near the border, the interior ministry said on Friday. 

The missile was launched late Thursday from a rebel-controlled area in Yemen and hit a base in Dhahran South, killing border guard Atallah Yassine Al-Anzi, according to a statement carried by Saudi Arabia`s official news agency. 

Saudi Arabia intercepted a rebel missile earlier this month near Dhahran South. A missile attack on the area last month killed a policeman.

For two years, Saudi Arabia, which heads a Gulf coalition allied with Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, has battled Iran-backed Huthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa and strategic cities along the Red Sea coastline. 

Usually silent on the Yemen conflict, the kingdom over the past month has regularly announced the deaths of more than a dozen soldiers. 

The United Nations estimates more than 7,700 people have been killed and another 40,000 wounded in Yemen since the violence escalated in March 2015. 

The UN has also warned the country faces a serious risk of famine this year.