Saudi-led coalition rejects reports of Houthi attack on Riyadh - report

The Saudi-led coalition has rejected the reports of an armed drone attack by Houthis on the Saudi capital Riyadh, according to Arab News.

The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition Colonel Turki al-Malki said the Houthi account was "fake and deceptive".

There was no immediate reaction from the authorities in Saudi Arabia.

It was reported that the Houthis, officially known as the Ansarallah forces launched the first attack of this year on the capital city of Saudi Arabia, though the Saudi coalition fighting in Yemen dismissed the report.

The rocket battalion of Houthis targeted Riyadh with their Samad-3 attack drone.

#BREAKING: Arab coalition spokesman denies Houthi claims they targeted Riyadh in drone attack https://t.co/mEcCeoOC4r pic.twitter.com/qBmJjUqWgE

— Arab News (@arabnews) August 26, 2019

Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition announced that a drone launched by the Yemeni Houthi movement towards the kingdom had been intercepted and shot down in Yemeni airspace.

Yesterday, the coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis also intercepted and destroyed six ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group targeting civilians in Jizan, southwest of the kingdom. On the other hand, the military spokesman for the Iran-aligned Houthi movement said the group fired 10 Badr-1 ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia's southwestern Jizan airport, adding that the attack had killed and wounded dozens.

The Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa, have in the past few months stepped up their attacks against targets in the kingdom. In response, the coalition has targeted military sites belonging to the group, especially around Sanaa.

"The Houthi militias continued targeting of civilians through drones and ballistic missiles ...is an act of aggression and terrorism and a war crime according to international humanitarian law," the coalition spokesman, Colonel Turki al-Malki, said in a statement.