Explosions Rock Riyadh as Houthis Claim Missile Attack on Airport
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement said its forces had intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Several powerful explosions rocked Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on Monday night, shortly after residents received mobile phone alerts warning of an aerial threat.
“The area is under a hostile aerial threat. Please remain calm, stay indoors or in a safe place away from windows and doors,” the warning message read.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement said its forces had intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh.
“Interception and destruction of a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh,” Major General Turki al-Malki, the coalition’s spokesman, wrote on X.
The Houthis later claimed responsibility for an attack targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had launched a ballistic missile at the airport, claiming the strike had hit its target.
Saree also said the group had targeted the Khamis Mushait military base in southern Saudi Arabia with a drone.
The competing statements came amid renewed regional tensions, with the attacks highlighting the risk of further escalation involving Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis. The coalition said it had intercepted the missile, while the Houthis claimed to have struck the airport. Further details about the reported damage and the outcome of the alleged drone attack were not immediately available.