The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-aligned group towards Taif and Yanbu on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing the coalition's statement. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence briefly issued alerts on Saturday warning of potential danger in Taif and Yanbu, as well as the holy city of Mecca and Jeddah, the country's second-largest city, and issued notices around 10 minutes later saying the danger had passed, Reuters said. Qatar's state news agency QNA carried the same coalition announcement, attributing it to coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al Malki.

Source: Reuters via Hatha Alyoum, Oct 24, 2026

In a separate announcement the same morning, the coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched towards the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Two explosions rang out in Riyadh early on Saturday, an AFP journalist in the capital said. 'Air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist militia toward Riyadh,' coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, according to AFP. A drone was also intercepted in the country's Eastern Province, al-Malki said in an earlier post on Saturday, AFP reported. Taken together, the coalition statements reported by Reuters and AFP describe three ballistic missiles — one towards Riyadh and two towards Taif and Yanbu — plus the drone in the east. AP's Middle East roundup on Saturday likewise reported that the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh, Taif and Yanbu and destroyed a drone over the country's eastern region.

Source: AFP via The Business Standard, Oct 24, 2026

No casualty figure was given in the coalition statements reported by Reuters and AFP. Saudi Arabia has come under sustained attack from the Houthis this month, including a strike on Riyadh's international airport that AFP described as the country's deadliest in years. Tehran has denied having anything to do with the Houthi attacks after Saudi Arabia accused Iran of encouraging the group to escalate against the kingdom, AFP reported — that denial and the Saudi accusation are reported here as the two sides' stated positions, not as settled fact. After an uneasy four-year truce, fighting reignited in Yemen in July, months into the US-Iran conflict, AFP said.

Source: AFP via The Business Standard, Oct 24, 2026

For the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers who live and work across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Saturday's alerts are a direct safety concern: the warnings briefly covered Riyadh, Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah, all cities with large expatriate workforces, before Civil Defence said the danger had passed. Sources: Reuters, AFP, AP and QNA reporting the coalition statements.

Source: QNA via Fana News, Oct 24, 2026