Arab News | Coalition aid defenses thwart Houthi missile and drone attack on Riyadh and Khamis Mushayt

RIYADH: Saudi air defenses shot down a missile and drone attack on the Kingdom by the Iran-backed Houthi militia early Saturday, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced.

In a post on X at 4 a.m. local time, Coalition Forces spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said two drones launched toward the Riyadh area were “intercepted and destroyed.”

Maliki said in another post 30 minutes later that air defenses also “intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Khamis Mushayt.”

The ⁠Saudi Civil Defense had sent alerts overnight for Khamis Mushayt and Abha, two upland cities in the southwestern province of Asir, but not for the capital.

The Houthis, who control the ⁠most populous parts ‌of Yemen and ‌much of the ​north, have ‌been launching attacks against ‌Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting Saudi vessels in ‌the Red Sea.

The attacks have targeted Saudi cities, ⁠energy infrastructure ⁠and shipping, adding to pressures on global oil supplies caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and putting at risk the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait ​of Hormuz ​remains largely blocked.