Saudi Arabia intercepts missile over Riyadh, shoots down two drones in the south
Yemen’s Houthi movement has stepped up missile attacks on the kingdom
Saudi Arabia’s air defence forces intercepted a missile over Riyadh on Wednesday, state media said, after at least three blasts were heard and three clouds of smoke were seen in the sky above the capital.
Yemen’s Houthi movement has stepped up missile attacks on the kingdom in what it says is retaliation for air raids by a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned armed movement.
One man was killed in Riyadh last month by debris after the military shot down a flurry of missiles, the first casualty of the Yemen war in the Saudi capital.
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf Arab states intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to try to push back the Houthis after the movement drove Yemen’s internationally recognised government into Saudi exile.
The attack on Wednesday marked the fourth time in five months that missiles have flown over Riyadh, as the Houthis step up efforts to demonstrate they can reach the Saudi capital, and threatens to escalate a regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.