Saudi Arabia destroys Houthi missiles fired towards Riyadh

November 13, 9:15pm Sydney update

Yemen's Houthi group said on Thursday it launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on Aramco in Riyadh, Pumping Station No. 7 on Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline, an oil facility in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, and military targets including a cargo aircraft at Sharurah Airport and King Khalid Air Base. No damage details were given and the claims could not be independently verified.

Separately, the Saudi-led coalition said its air defences intercepted and destroyed four drones, two over the Riyadh region and two over the eastern region, and two ballistic missiles over the west of the country. The Houthis dismissed the Saudi claim that missiles were intercepted over Mecca as fabricated. These claims concern the November 12 developments, not a fresh confirmation of every earlier reported strike or damage.

Earlier reporting retained for context

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis says its air defence systems destroyed three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-linked armed group towards the kingdom.

Two of the missiles were aimed at the capital Riyadh, coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said on Sunday. The coalition later said it had also intercepted two cruise missiles over Riyadh and the southern region, and al-Malki confirmed another ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom's eastern province was intercepted.

The attacks come as fighting has intensified across Yemen between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, and government forces, which last month launched the 'Dawn of Yemen' operation aimed at retaking Houthi-held areas and the capital Sanaa.

Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, said 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in coalition airstrikes on the village of al-Sharia near Sanaa, and at least 39 were wounded in strikes on homes, streets, medical workers and civil defence teams in the Bani Hushaish district.

The coalition did not immediately comment, and the claims could not be independently verified. Houthi-linked media reported artillery shelling in several parts of the Shada border district of Saada province on Sunday.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the coalition carried out 105 air and missile strikes on eight provinces, including Sanaa, within 24 hours, and 4,369 strikes in total since the conflict began. He said the Houthis carried out six operations targeting Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions on both sides of the border.

On Friday, 30 people were killed in an attack on a market in Taiz province; the Houthis blamed a Saudi airstrike, while government forces accused the Houthis of firing a ballistic missile at the site.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,600 people have been killed and around 300,000 displaced since the 2022 ceasefire broke down last July, after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports. In September the Houthis seized the Perm area on Yemen's Red Sea coast, and in October government forces launched operations to retake Houthi-held areas.

UPDATE: Riyadh civil defence lifted a brief alert this morning. Debris from Sunday's interception blew out windows of a tower in the capital, but no casualties were reported. The Houthis have been stepping up strikes on airports, ports and oil facilities since resuming attacks in July, after the collapse of the 2022 UN-brokered truce.