Saudi forces intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh early Wednesday as the Iran-backed group escalated attacks on Saudi cities, airports and strategic waterways amid an intensifying Yemen conflict.
WEBDESK – MEDIABITES
Saudi Arabia’s air defense forces shot down a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh in the early hours of Wednesday, the Coalition to Support Yemen’s Sovereignty confirmed.
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced on X that the launch platform had been tracked by coalition intelligence systems operating over Yemen’s capital Sanaa and would be destroyed. An earlier missile targeting Khamis Mushait was also intercepted by Saudi forces.
Aden Airport Targeted, Multiple Sites Hit
Yemen’s internationally recognized government separately reported that Houthi forces fired two ballistic missiles at Aden’s international airport on Wednesday morning. The strikes added to a pattern of escalating attacks on civilian infrastructure across the region.
On Monday night, three people were injured when the group targeted airports in Najran and Jazan, with Saudi aviation authorities confirming material damage and pledging enhanced security measures at both facilities.
Coalition Strikes Back
In a major counterstrike on Tuesday, the Coalition destroyed a depot containing 20 ballistic missiles hidden inside a mountain in Saada, as part of a broad counteroffensive operation dubbed “Dawn of Yemen.”
Yemeni government forces also seized the strategic Bab Al-Mandab strait and the coastal city of Mokha, dealing a significant blow to Houthi ambitions of controlling the vital international waterway through which a large share of global shipping passes.
Saudi Cabinet Backs Yemen Government
At a Cabinet session on Tuesday, Saudi ministers accused the Houthi rebels of choosing military escalation over peace and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s full backing for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and its internationally recognised government, pledging continued support for efforts to restore state institutions.
Wider Context
The Houthis, backed by Iran, have been engaged in a battle with Coalition forces for control of the Bab Al-Mandab strait and have repeatedly threatened Saudi shipping through Red Sea routes. The group seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and has controlled large parts of the country since.
The group has drawn widespread international condemnation for targeting civilian areas inside Saudi Arabia. Anger has been particularly intense across the Muslim world after a Houthi drone was shot down in the vicinity of Makkah, Islam’s holiest city.
Reporting based on Arab News/SPA.
