The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday said it intercepted two ballistic missiles launched towards its capital, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, and three drones in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
Air defences intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards Riyadh,” Turki al-Maliki, the Saudi-led coalition spokesperson, said in a post on X early on Sunday.
The Houthis control most part of the Yemen have intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia in the recent days.
Meanwhile, the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), claimed to have shot down an armed Saudi coalition reconnaissance aircraft carrying out “hostile operations in the airspace of al-Jawf”.
In a post on X, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Iran-aligned group was able to “repel a number of Saudi military formations using several Yemeni-made surface-to-air missiles” and that it was the fifth aircraft the Houthis had shot down since the escalation began.
At least 26 people have been killed in suspected Houthi drone and missile attacks in Saudi Arabia since September 23, according to the kingdom’s authorities.
A Houthi attack last week damaged the administrative building of the state-run oil company Saudi Aramco in Riyadh’s financial hub. The Eastern Province is the economic powerhouse of Saudi Arabia, has also been subjected to multiple attacks in the recent times. Eastern Province, which contains the majority of the kingdom’s oil and gas reserves, is home and is home to Aramco’s headquarters and has suffered extensive damage in an attack in October. The Houthis have stepped up an attack on Saudi airports, ports and oil facilities, with Saudi Arabia has ramped up air strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response.