Saudi authorities said Saturday they had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile aimed at the capital Riyadh, marking the first time the city has come under attack since the Houthis sharply escalated their campaign in July. Air raid alerts sounded across the capital and several other regions late Friday and early Saturday local time, with residents urged to avoid gathering in crowds, according to officials and reports from Reuters and AFP. Journalists on the ground reported hearing explosions, but authorities later declared the danger had passed.
Video and images from the city showed thick black plumes of smoke rising from near Riyadh's international airport, where flight operations were temporarily disrupted. The Saudi Civil Defence issued alerts for the capital and surrounding areas, the first such warnings for Riyadh since the start of the recent escalation.
In a statement, the Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea said the group had launched a "large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones" at "sensitive sites" in Riyadh and at Saudi Aramco oil and gas facilities in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast. He said the attacks were "in response to the Saudi enemy's criminal attempts" to target Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which is under Houthi control. The spokesman also accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out 300 strikes across Yemen in the past week.
The US State Department urged Americans in the Middle East to "exercise vigilance and be prepared for potential flight cancellations and other travel disruptions," warning that "this military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly." It advised Americans to "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region."
Saudi officials said air defences also intercepted "hostile attempts to target civilians" in the cities of Bish, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu, according to a statement from a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition.
The Houthis have ramped up attacks on Saudi territory in recent months, including assaults on oil facilities that have at times halted operations and contributed to rising global energy prices. The group recently seized the strategic port city of Mokha and Perim Island, a gateway to a key Red Sea shipping lane used by Saudi Arabia to export oil to Asia and Europe, particularly after the US-Israel war with Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis said their naval blockade was in retaliation for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in Houthi-held north-western Yemen.
The United Nations' International Organization for Migration reported Friday that the number of people displaced by the recent fighting had passed 104,000. An unconfirmed AFP report, citing military sources on both sides, said 48 people were killed in clashes on Saturday, including 31 Houthi fighters and 17 government soldiers.