Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles aimed at Riyadh and Eastern Province

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Sunday that its air defences destroyed three ballistic missiles fired at the kingdom, two of them aimed at the capital, Riyadh. The attacks come as fighting intensifies across Yemen between the Houthis and government forces, with both sides reporting civilian casualties.

Coalition spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Maliki said on X that the coalition later intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles over Riyadh and the southern region. Earlier, he confirmed another ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province had been intercepted.

Casualties near Sanaa

Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said on Saturday that 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in coalition air attacks on the village of al-Shariyah in the Bani Hushaish district, east of Sanaa. He said at least 39 others were wounded and that homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams were targeted. The coalition did not immediately comment, and Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the coalition carried out 105 air strikes and missile attacks over 24 hours on Sanaa and seven other governorates, bringing the total since the escalation began to 4,369. He also claimed the Houthis conducted six operations against Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions.

Background

On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people. The Houthis blamed Saudi air strikes, while Yemeni government forces said the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at the site.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July, when the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports. In September the Houthis seized much of Yemen's Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive, and in October government forces launched the Dawn of Yemen operation to retake Houthi-held territory, including Sanaa.