Saudi-led coalition intercepts Houthi missiles, drones targeting kingdom

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Tuesday it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis towards two regions of Saudi Arabia, as the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group intensifies.

The Houthis launched three ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia’s eastern region and four drones towards the country’s southern region, the coalition said.

Saudi Civil Defence issued early warning alerts for a potential hostile threat in the eastern region and in Kharj governorate, later saying the danger had passed in both areas.

Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes on the Houthis since the group captured strategic areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast last month, advancing towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key global shipping route for Gulf oil producers on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

The renewed fighting between the two sides has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted attacks between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa.

The escalation has also opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.