MUSCAT, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Oman on Tuesday urged the Yemeni Houthis and Saudi Arabia to avoid any escalation which would be detrimental to the region's security and stability.

"The Sultanate followed up with great interest and deep regret the attacks staged at Saudi Arabia recently, and calls for an action to avoid escalation that would not be in the interest of security and stability in the region," the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

It urged all parties to focus on enhancing the UN-sponsored efforts aimed at reaching a rapid political settlement of the Yemeni crisis in a manner that safeguards the neighbouring countries' security and interests.

Saudi-led coalition forces announced on Tuesday that they had "intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles and eight bomb-laden drones launched on Tuesday morning from Yemen by the Houthi militia towards the Saudi border regions of Jizan and Najran."

It was the latest in a series of cross-border attacks by the Yemeni Houthis against Saudi Arabia since the Yemeni civil war erupted five years ago.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of much of the country's north and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa. Enditem

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