Saudi-led coalition intercepts suspected Houthi missiles and drones

Fighting escalates in Yemen’s Marib and al-Jawf, as UN migration agency says more than 340,000 Yemenis displaced since August. Saudi-led coalition forces fighting Yemen’s Houthis have said they intercepted two missiles and five drones targeting different parts of the country, allegedly launched by the Iran-backed rebel group.

“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. Earlier on Saturday, al-Maliki said two suspected Houthi drones “were intercepted and destroyed” in the Riyadh and southern regions.

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”. 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.