Riyadh: A rebel group in Yemen said it fired a volley of ballistic missiles toward cities in Saudi Arabia late on Sunday, including the capital, Riyadh, where at least one person was killed by shrapnel, according to a statement by the rebels and the official Saudi Press Agency.

The Saudi military said it had intercepted seven missiles, including three aimed at Riyadh, where red missile trails were visible in the night sky amid loud booms. The military's claim could not be independently confirmed. Videos shared on social media appeared to show a projectile - possibly a Patriot missile sent to intercept the incoming rebel fire - crashing to the ground shortly after it was launched.

The rebel group, known as the Houthis, has fired ballistic missiles into Saudi territory repeatedly over the past three years, during a war in Yemen that has pitted the rebels and their allies against Yemeni factions aligned with a Saudi-led military coalition. Saudi and US officials have accused Iran of supplying missiles and other weapons to the Houthis, a charge the government in Tehran has denied.

The multipronged attack Sunday - toward cities in south-western Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen, as well as Riyadh - represented a sharp escalation of the Houthi campaign. It imperiled a fledgling effort by a new UN envoy to broker peace talks to end the war and seemed certain to provoke a furious Saudi response.