The Saudi-led coalition has started a military operation against the Yemeni Houthi movement after it stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, state television reported on Wednesday.

In Yemen, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported coalition air strikes on the capital Sanaa, Marib, al-Jouf, al-Bayda, Hajjah and Saada provinces on Wednesday.

The coalition, which has been battling the Iran-aligned movement for five years, will hold a news conference on the operation against Houthi targets that aims to neutralise its military capabilities, Al-Ekhbariya channel and Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said.

Last week, Houthi fighters fired missiles that reached the Saudi capital Riyadh in the first such assault since a six-week ceasefire prompted by the coronavirus epidemic expired in late May. The coalition said it intercepted the attack.

The alliance intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.

The conflict is largely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

-Agencies