SANAA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi militia said they attacked the King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia's southwestern city of Khamis Mushait with an explosive-laden drone at dawn on Sunday.

"The hit was precise," Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea was quoted by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV as saying.

Meanwhile, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed an armed drone the Houthi militia fired from Yemen to Khamis Mushait.

Cross-border missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis have escalated since February when the group began a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib in central Yemen.

On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said a recent UN-brokered negotiation between Yemen's warring sides and other relevant parties has failed to produce any agreement of cease-fire.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. Enditem

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