DUBAI: Saudi Arabian air defences on Saturday destroyed eight armed drones launched by Yemen's Houthi movement towards the south of the kingdom, state television cited the Saudi-led coalition as saying.

The Houthi spokesman said on Twitter that one drone was launched at a military base in Khamis Mushait. The coalition later in the day said seven drones fired towards the south of the kingdom were also intercepted.

The Houthis have frequently targeted Khamis Mushait and other Saudi cities along the frontier in the more than six-year-old Yemen war.

A military coalition led by Riyadh intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa.