Yemen's Houthis Strike Near Riyadh Airport
Yemen's Houthi movement said it launched missile and drone strikes on "sensitive" targets in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, where fire and smoke were seen near the airport. The anti-Houthi coalition says it intercepted most of the projectiles.
Yemen's Houthi movement has announced it carried out overnight missile and drone strikes against "sensitive" sites in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Hours before the announcement, flames and smoke were already visible near the city's main airport.
According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia issued warnings overnight about potential danger in the Riyadh area amid intensifying Houthi attacks. Fire and thick black smoke were later observed near the main airport, with flames apparently rising from structures believed to be fuel storage tanks.
The Houthis did not specify which facilities in Riyadh were hit, but said they also struck a Saudi Aramco facility in the Red Sea coastal city of Yanbu, one of the kingdom's key oil export hubs. The group described the operation as retaliation for an attack on Sanaa, Yemen's capital.
The Saudi-led military coalition opposing the Houthis said its air defense systems shot down a missile fired toward Riyadh on Saturday morning. The coalition also said it thwarted attacks aimed at civilians in the southwestern Saudi cities of Bisha and Farasan, in Taif to the west, and in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast. No damage was reported in those locations.
The strikes follow earlier reports that the Iran-backed Houthis declared an expansion of the Middle East war and struck four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, an assault that injured more than 70 people and sparked fires at oil facilities. The Houthis have also seized the port city of Mokha and advanced along the Red Sea coast toward the strategically important Hanish Islands.
