RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority said on Monday that the threat had passed, shortly after issuing alerts for the southern and western cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, Taif and Najran, Reuters reported. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen later said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-aligned Houthis towards the southern region of Saudi Arabia. Reuters' report carried no casualty or damage figures for Monday's interception.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2

Southern Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, has come under repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting military installations and energy infrastructure, including Jazan, home to a 400,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery on the Red Sea coast — yaani 4 lakh barrels a day. Saudi Arabia has also carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, as the renewed fighting heightens risks to the kingdom's oil production and exports, Reuters reported. The Houthis have also targeted Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline and oil export facilities in Yanbu, a key Red Sea outlet for Saudi crude shipments.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2

4 citiesAlerted by Saudi civil defence on Monday before the all-clear: Khamis Mushait, Abha, Taif and Najran
1 ballistic missileIntercepted and destroyed over the southern region, the Saudi-led coalition said
400,000 barrels a dayCapacity of the Jazan refinery on the Red Sea coast — yaani 4 lakh barrels daily — in the south that has faced repeated attacks, Reuters noted

Monday's alert follows a weekend of strikes both ways

The alert came a day after Houthi-run al-Masirah TV said airstrikes it attributed to Saudi Arabia hit a berth and a docked commercial vessel at Ras Isa oil port in Hodeidah, and a telecommunications facility southeast of Saada, Xinhua reported. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed 75 air and missile strikes across eight provinces in 24 hours — figures Xinhua said could not be independently verified — and the coalition said on Sunday that it had intercepted a Houthi drone and a ballistic missile aimed at the kingdom's southern region.

Source: Xinhua, Nov 2

On Sunday the coalition said it had struck Houthi 'critical resources' in a surgical operation, while Houthi media reported strikes on a Hodeidah oil facility. Read Sunday's report

What happens next: Monday's sequence — alerts in four cities, one intercepted missile, then an all-clear — is the pattern of recent weeks, in which each side's strike is answered within days. The southern and western cities named in the alerts sit in regions that host military bases, energy facilities and large expatriate workforces, including many Indian and Punjabi workers in the Gulf, so every alert-and-all-clear cycle is watched well beyond Saudi Arabia.

Source: Reuters, Nov 2