Saudi-led coalition intercepts 2 Houthi missiles fired towards Riyadh

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Riyadh on Sunday, after loud booms were heard in the Saudi capital.

Saudi Civil Defence had issued an alert in the Riyadh region shortly before the booms, a Reuters witness said. Authorities later announced that the risk of danger had passed.

Later, the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles in Riyadh and the southern region.

Fighting between the sides has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce, after Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab states into Yemen in 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government following the Houthis’ seizure of the capital Sanaa.

The renewed fighting has become a front in the wider Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February.

The Houthis have targeted Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities with missiles and drones since hostilities resumed in July, while Saudi Arabia has carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The latest incident comes a day after Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Saudi airstrikes killed at least 33 people near Sanaa. Saudi authorities said they were investigating.