RIYADH — Arab Coalition forces have intercepted and destroyed a drone carrying explosives launched by Iran-backed Houthis toward Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday quoting the coalition spokesman, Col. Turki Al-Maliki. "Joint Coalition Forces have intercepted and destroyed this evening (Thursday) a bomb-laden UAV launched systematically and deliberately by the terrorist Houthi militia to target civilians and civilian objects in (Khamis Mushait)," Al-Maliki said in an official statement. The Houthi militia has stepped up cross-border drone attacks recently in blatant defiance of the international humanitarian law and its customary rules, ignoring the repeated pleas made by the Arab Coalition led by Saudi Arabia to agree to a ceasefire.