Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles targeting Riyadh, Eastern province
Al Jazeera Staff
Saudi-led coalition air defences intercepted three Houthi ballistic missiles, two aimed at Riyadh and one at the Eastern province, a coalition spokesperson said. The interceptions came as Houthi authorities reported 33 people killed, including 13 children, in coalition air strikes on a village near Sanaa, and fighting intensifies between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says its air defences have destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the Iran-aligned armed group towards the kingdom.
Two of the missiles were launched towards the kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said in a post on X on Sunday.
Earlier, he confirmed another interception of a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the kingdom’s Eastern province.
The attacks come as fighting intensifies across Yemen between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), and government forces, who launched the Dawn of Yemen operation aimed at retaking Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, last month.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson, Anees al-Asbahi, said on Saturday that 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed after Saudi-led coalition air attacks on the village of al-Shariyah, near Sanaa.
In a post on X, al-Asbahi said at least 39 others were wounded in the attacks on Saturday, which targeted homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams in the village, located in the Bani Hushaish district east of Sanaa.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition on the reported strikes. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports.
Media outlets affiliated with the Houthis reported on Sunday that various areas of the Shada border district in Saada province have also been subjected to artillery shelling.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree earlier claimed that the coalition had carried out 105 air strikes and missile attacks over 24 hours targeting Sanaa and seven other governorates, taking the total number of strikes since the escalation began to 4,369.
The Houthis, meanwhile, carried out six operations targeting Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions on both sides of the border, Saree claimed in a post on X.
On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people. The Houthis blamed it on Saudi air strikes, while Yemeni government forces accused the Iran-aligned group of firing a ballistic missile at the site.
According to the United Nations, more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports.
In September, the Houthis seized much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive, while government forces launched a campaign to reclaim Houthi-held territory in October.
