Saudi air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh early Sunday, as Yemen's Houthi rebels escalated a campaign of cross-border attacks that has killed at least 26 people in the kingdom since September.
Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District and the Kingdom Tower. Photo: B.alotaby, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Missiles Intercepted Over the Capital
A Saudi Civil Defense alert sounded at 4:08 a.m. on Sunday, warning residents of Riyadh of an incoming aerial threat. Three loud explosions were heard minutes later, before authorities issued an all-clear notification, according to Arab News.
Shortly afterward, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, announced on X that Saudi air defenses had "intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia toward Riyadh." The coalition also said it had destroyed three drones launched toward the kingdom's Eastern Province, the region that holds most of Saudi Arabia's oil and gas reserves and the headquarters of state oil giant Aramco.
The interception came a day after the coalition said it had destroyed two suspected Houthi drones in the Riyadh and southern regions on Saturday. Saudi air defenses had also intercepted Houthi missiles and drones directed toward Riyadh, Makkah and other regions on Wednesday.
A Widening Campaign Against Saudi Targets
The attacks are part of an intensified Houthi campaign against Saudi airports, military installations and energy infrastructure. A recent strike damaged an administrative building belonging to Aramco in Riyadh's financial district, and an earlier attack in October caused extensive damage to Aramco facilities, Arab News reported.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and other Saudi airports. Attacks on the kingdom since September have killed 26 people, including 23 in strikes targeting airports, according to an official tally cited by Arab News.
The US Embassy in Riyadh has issued a nationwide security alert urging Americans in the kingdom to exercise heightened vigilance, citing an increased threat of Houthi attacks.
Houthis Claim a Saudi Aircraft Downed
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had shot down an armed Saudi reconnaissance aircraft in the airspace of al-Jawf, a province in northern Yemen, Al Jazeera reported. The claim could not be independently verified.
The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognized government in its war with the Houthis, has intensified airstrikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen in response to the cross-border attacks, according to Arab News.
A War Spreading Across the Gulf
The escalation in Saudi Arabia comes as the wider war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other spreads across the Gulf. The Houthis are aligned with Iran, and their attacks on Saudi Arabia have surged since hostilities reignited in July.
On the same morning, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had launched a second drone attack in three days on a US radar site at a base in Bahrain, and Bahrain's military said its air defenses had thwarted several Iranian "aerial attacks." The Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil shipping route, remains a central flashpoint, with Iran insisting it is closed to shipping that does not coordinate with Tehran.
With missiles now reaching for Riyadh, drones over the Eastern Province and strikes on Bahrain in the same hours, the conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 is increasingly being fought across the whole of the Gulf region.
Sources: Al Jazeera; Arab News; Free Malaysia Today.