Arab News | Saudi air defenses knock down ballistic missile north of Riyadh

RIYADH: Saudi air defenses shot down a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, the coalition to support Yemen’s sovereignty said early Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said on X that the launch platform was being tracked by the Coalition’s intelligence system in the skies above Yemen’s capital Sanaa, and would be destroyed.

The Iran-backed group is engaged in a battle with Coalition forces to gain control of the strategic Bab Al-Mandab strait, and have threatened to attack Saudi shipping through the Red Sea route.

Yemen’s government said early Wednesday that the militia group targetted Aden’s international airport with two ballistic missiles.

Separately, three people were hurt Monday night after airports in Najran and Jazan were targeted by the group.

An earlier missile targeting Khamis Mushait was also stopped by Saudi forces.

At a Cabinet session on Tuesday, Saudi ministers accused the rebels of choosing military escalation over peace, and announced the Kingdom’s backing for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and internationally recognized government, backing efforts to restore state institutions.

On Tuesday, the Coalition destroyed a depot containing 20 ballistic missiles inside a mountain in Saada, as intense military activities continued against the Houthis in a counteroffensive operation dubbed “Dawn of Yemen”.

Government forces also siezed the vital Bab Al-Mandab strait as well as the coastal city of Mokha in a blow to the rebels aims of controlling the vital international waterway.

The Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and have had control of large parts of Yemen ever since.

They have been condemned for targeting civilian areas in the Kingdom and have enraged Muslims after a drone launched by the group was shot down outside Makkah, the holiest city in Islam.