Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted a Houthi missile and drone over Riyadh

Spread the Word

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi air defences intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile and a drone over Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said, as explosions sounded over the capital.

The coalition said it destroyed the missile in flight. It said a drone was intercepted and destroyed over the capital later in the day.

Both accounts rest on the coalition’s own statements. Yemen Herald found no independent confirmation that either weapon was shot down.

News agencies reported two explosions in Riyadh shortly before the first announcement. Agence France-Presse said the blasts followed a brief official warning of a possible threat.

The Saudi Civil Defense said on the social platform X that the National Early Warning Platform for Emergencies had issued an alert across Riyadh. The message warned residents of a potential threat.

A second message followed minutes later. It said the threat to the city had been lifted.

Saudi authorities gave no casualty figures for Tuesday. They reported no damage on the ground.

The Houthi movement did not immediately claim the launch. It has claimed most of the attacks on Saudi territory this month.

The coalition spokesman, Turki al-Maliki, said on October 17 that four drones had been downed over Riyadh, the Eastern Province and the southern region within a few hours. He posted footage he said showed interceptions and strikes on Houthi ballistic missile launchers.

The coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile fired toward Riyadh on October 14. It reported intercepting a cruise missile over Medina on October 17, an attack the Houthis denied carrying out.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three ballistic missiles aimed at King Khalid International Airport on October 12.

The interceptions followed a series of attacks on Saudi airports earlier in the month. Saudi authorities said a ballistic missile struck the terminal complex at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on October 10, killing 12 people and wounding more than 300.

An Indian national died of his injuries the following day, raising that toll to 13. No other single attack during the month killed as many people.

A missile and drone attack on the same airport on October 6 and 7 killed a Sudanese national and wounded eight people. An attack on Abha International Airport over those two days killed two women, from Algeria and Morocco, and wounded 28.

Two attacks on King Khalid International Airport on October 8 killed three Saudi citizens. One was the pilot of a Saudia A320 that was destroyed on the ground, and dozens of people were wounded.

A ballistic missile hit terminal 4 at the Riyadh airport on October 11, killing a Pakistani resident and wounding 11. King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was attacked the same day without casualties.

At least 20 people have been killed and more than 370 wounded in attacks on Saudi airports this month.

The Houthis said on October 19 that they had struck Saudi energy, airport and military targets, including sites at Yanbu, Riyadh and Abha. Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm those claims.

A missile attack hit the Al Alam camp at a training centre in Shabwa province in southern Yemen the same day. Shabwa Governor Awad bin al-Wazir said 73 people were killed, more than 200 wounded and 14 left missing.

The Houthis acknowledged attacking the site. They described it as a concentration of Saudi forces run by Saudi officers, an account Saudi authorities did not address.

Members of the UN Security Council condemned the attacks in a joint statement issued on October 15. The Council president, Evangelos Sekeris of Greece, released it on behalf of the 15 members.

The statement condemned “in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and referred to “reckless strikes” on Riyadh’s airport. It also condemned attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and affirmed Saudi Arabia’s right to self-defence under international law.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Egypt would carry out any measure to protect Saudi Arabia if the kingdom asked. He said Cairo did not want to join regional wars and described any role as defensive.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of encouraging the escalation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran supported a “comprehensive political process as the only practical and sustainable way to resolve” the conflict.

The exchanges followed the collapse of a truce that had held in Yemen since 2022. The United Nations brokered that agreement in April of that year.

Inside Yemen, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday it was alarmed by the encirclement of Taiz. High Commissioner Volker Türk said the closure of the city’s only supply route to Aden was “placing civilians at grave risk” and had pushed commodity prices higher.

The office said it had verified 32 civilians killed across Taiz governorate between August 1 and October 19, among them 14 children and nine women. It said 115 civilians were wounded in the same period.

The World Health Organization said Taiz’s health system was at “critical risk”. It reported that 12 hospitals had about four days of fuel left and that 115 of 127 essential medicines had a week or less of stock.

Suspected cholera cases across Yemen rose from 221 to 683 a week between September 12 and October 10, according to the organization.