Saudi air defences shoot down Houthi missile near Riyadh

Saudi air defences intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh early Wednesday, as fighting intensified between the Iran-backed group and Yemen’s internationally recognised government and its Saudi-led coalition allies.

Maj-Gen. Turki Al Maliki, spokesperson for the coalition supporting Yemen’s sovereignty, said on X that the missile’s launch platform had been tracked by the coalition’s intelligence system in the skies over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and would be destroyed.

Yemen’s government said the Houthis had also targeted Aden International Airport with two ballistic missiles early Wednesday.

The latest attacks followed a series of Houthi missile and drone strikes targeting Saudi territory.

Three people were injured on Monday night after airports in Najran and Jazan came under attack, while an earlier missile targeting Khamis Mushait was intercepted by Saudi forces.

At a Cabinet session on Tuesday, Saudi ministers accused the Houthis of choosing military escalation over peace and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s support for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and internationally recognised government. They also backed efforts to restore Yemen’s state institutions.

On Tuesday, the coalition said it had destroyed a depot containing 20 ballistic missiles inside a mountain in Saada as military operations against the Houthis continued under a counteroffensive dubbed “Dawn of Yemen”.

Government forces have also seized the strategic Bab El Mandeb Strait and the coastal city of Mokha, dealing a blow to Houthi efforts to gain control of the vital international waterway.

The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014 and have since maintained control over large parts of Yemen.

The group has faced condemnation for attacks on civilian areas in Saudi Arabia.

It also drew widespread anger after a drone launched by the group was intercepted near the holy city of Makkah.