The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen said on Tuesday it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthi movement toward the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.
Yemen’s Houthis said they launched a large missile and drone attack deep in Saudi Arabia that allegedly struck the defense ministry and a military base in Riyadh, while the kingdom said it blocked the assault.
“A large number of winged ballistic missiles and drones targeted the capital of the Saudi enemy… pounding military headquarters and centers including the defense and intelligence ministry and (King) Salman Air Base,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on television. He said attacks were also launched against military sites in the southern Saudi cities of Najran and Jizan, which border Yemen.
Witnesses in the capital heard two loud blasts and saw billows of smoke in the sky over Riyadh close to dawn, Reuters reported.