Sana’a – Thousands of Yemeni supporters of the Houthi rebels gathered for a protest in Sana’a to mark the third anniversary of Saudi-led military campaign against them.
The demonstrators carried banners denouncing the “aggression’’ and voicing support to the Iranian-backed rebel group, which controls the capital.
“The people’s battle today is to restore sovereignty,” Saleh al-Sammad, the head of the Houthi-led Supreme Political Council, told the crowds at Sabeen Square.
He praised the group for firing ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
“Stop your raids, then we stop our rockets,” he said.
All seven missiles were intercepted and destroyed, Riyadh said, adding that one person was killed and two others wounded when shrapnel from a missile fell onto a residential home in the capital.
The Houthis have been firing missiles at Saudi Arabia for several months, all of which have been intercepted by Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has been embroiled in a devastating conflict between the Saudi-backed government and rebels over the past three years.
The Houthis took over the Yemeni capital in 2014.
Yet, the conflict has intensified since March 2015, when the Houthis advanced on the government’s temporary capital of Aden, prompting Saudi Arabia and Sunni allies to start an air campaign against the Shiite group.
The Saudis fear that the rebels would give their regional rival, Shiite Iran, a strategic foothold on the Arabian Peninsula.