Saudi Arabia Intercepts Missiles, Drones in One Day

Saudi air defences destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles fired at Najran province and drones over the Makkah and Riyadh regions on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition said. No casualties were reported.

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced the first interception on X in the morning. He said the two missiles were aimed at Najran, in the south-west, that debris fell and that damage was being assessed. Saudi civil defence had issued a danger warning for the province under its national early-warning platform and lifted it shortly afterwards. Later in the day the coalition reported destroying a drone over the Makkah region in the west.

A third announcement, posted at about 8:11pm GMT, said a drone was intercepted over the Riyadh region. It gave no detail on the drone’s origin, trajectory or target, and Saudi authorities reported no casualties or significant damage. The coalition attributed only the Najran missiles to the Houthis.

The Houthis are an Iran-backed movement that controls northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government since March 2015. Fighting between the two sides resumed this year despite a 2022 truce, after the US war against Iran began in February, according to Straight Arrow News. The coalition also said it destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards the Madinah region on Thursday.

Attacks have already caused casualties. A Houthi strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on 10 October killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, according to AFP, though the Saudi civil aviation authority put the death toll at 12. The Wall Street Journal reported in October, citing Saudi officials, that the kingdom was running low on interceptor missiles; Saudi Arabia has not confirmed that. On 30 October the Houthis claimed six operations against Saudi airports and oil facilities that Saudi Arabia did not confirm.