Saudi-led coalition says it shot down Houthi missiles aimed at Riyadh

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen ​said on Tuesday it shot down missiles fired ​by Yemen's Houthis at several Saudi cities in ‌a ​night of intensifying military action, while the Houthis reported Saudi airstrikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile and a cruise missile fired by the Iran-aligned ‌group towards Riyadh, as well as a ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom's southern region and a drone over the oil-rich east. Saudi civil defences issued alerts in the capital and the southern cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait, later saying the threats had passed.

Houthi military spokesperson ‌Yahya Saree said the group had hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and an oil facility in Abqaiq in the ‌east. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia. The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on Sanaa, hitting a petrol filling station in the Jadar district north of the capital and a building belonging to the state oil company in southern Sanaa.

Hostilities have been escalating between the Houthis ⁠and Saudi Arabia, ​which leads a military coalition ⁠that has backed Yemen's internationally recognised government, driven more than a decade ago from Sanaa by the Iran-backed Houthis. Fighting has intensified since September when the Houthis advanced towards ⁠the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic shipping chokepoint at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The Houthis have since stepped up strikes on ​Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities, while Saudi Arabia has carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Houthis said on ⁠Tuesday they had attacked Saudi Arabia’s vital East-West Pipeline in Riyadh Province, while denying a Saudi assertion that they had attacked the pipeline in the Medina region. Saudi ⁠state ​media had reported on Monday that an attack on the pipeline in the Medina region had caused a limited fire there, and that operations were not affected. Medina, home to one of Islam's holiest sites, is visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims each ⁠year. The Houthis have repeatedly rejected Saudi accusations that they have targeted Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities.

Since conflict in the ⁠Middle East disrupted oil flows through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh has used its East-West Pipeline to divert about 4 million barrels per day of crude to Yanbu on the Red Sea, equivalent to about 4% of global ‌supply.