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RIYADH: Saudi air defences intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, the Coalition to Support Yemen’s Legitimacy said early Wednesday.
Maj Gen Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said on X that its intelligence system had tracked the missile launch platform in the skies over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and that the platform would be destroyed.
The Iran-backed Houthis are engaged in fighting against coalition-backed forces in Yemen and have threatened attacks on Saudi-linked shipping along the Red Sea route, according to the report.
Yemen’s government said early Wednesday that the Houthis had targeted Aden International Airport with two ballistic missiles.
Separately, three people were injured on Monday night after airports in Najran and Jazan came under attack, according to the report.
An earlier missile targeting Khamis Mushait was also intercepted by Saudi forces.
At a Cabinet session on Tuesday, Saudi ministers accused the Houthis of choosing military escalation over peace. The government also reaffirmed its support for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and internationally recognised government, as well as efforts to restore state institutions.
On Tuesday, the coalition said it had destroyed a depot containing 20 ballistic missiles inside a mountain in Saada, as military operations continued against the Houthis in a counteroffensive dubbed “Dawn of Yemen”.
Government forces also said they had seized the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the coastal city of Mokha, in what was described as a setback to Houthi efforts to control the vital international waterway.
The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014 and have since controlled large parts of Yemen.
The group has faced condemnation over attacks on civilian areas in Saudi Arabia. It also drew widespread outrage after a drone launched by the group was intercepted outside Makkah, Islam’s holiest city. Source: Arab News