RIYADH — Saudi-led coalition forces said on Sunday they had intercepted two ballistic missiles launched toward the capital, Riyadh, by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, along with three drones over the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
“Air defences intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards Riyadh,” coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said in a post on X early on Sunday. A Saudi Civil Defense alert sounded at 4:08 a.m., warning Riyadh residents of an incoming aerial threat.
Al-Maliki said coalition forces also shot down three drones in the Eastern region on Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, he said two suspected Houthi drones “were intercepted and destroyed” in the Riyadh and southern regions.
The Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah, claimed to have shot down an armed Saudi coalition reconnaissance aircraft carrying out operations in the airspace of al-Jawf, in northern Yemen. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said it was the fifth aircraft the group had shot down since the escalation began.
At least 26 people have been killed in suspected Houthi drone and missile attacks in Saudi Arabia since September 23, according to the kingdom’s authorities. The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, the East-West pipeline and oil infrastructure in eastern and southern Saudi Arabia. A Houthi attack last week damaged an administrative building of the state oil company Saudi Aramco in Riyadh’s financial hub.
The interceptions come as fighting intensifies inside Yemen. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said they intercepted several drones launched towards the city of Marib and made gains against the Houthis during heavy fighting in the al-Hazm and Madghal districts of al-Jawf. The Houthis said the Saudi-led coalition had launched 72 air strikes against them in the Saada, Taiz, Lahij and al-Jawf governorates over the past 24 hours.
More than 340,000 people have been displaced as a result of fighting in Yemen since August, according to the International Organization for Migration.
As the fight escalated, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a nationwide security alert on Saturday urging Americans in the kingdom to exercise “heightened vigilance”, citing an increased threat of Houthi attacks. The embassy said Houthi attacks on airports and other critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia had “caused civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions”, warning that hostilities could spread “rapidly”.
