Saudi air defences intercepted three missiles fired towards the kingdom early on Tuesday, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said — a ballistic missile and a cruise missile destroyed over the capital, Riyadh, and a second ballistic missile downed over the south of the country. Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki blamed the Iran-aligned Houthis for Tuesday's attacks, in a series of posts on X reported by Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera

Multiple explosions were heard in Riyadh, according to the AFP news agency, and residents received text-message alerts instructing them to take shelter due to an 'aerial threat'. A subsequent message from Saudi Arabia's civil defence agency said the danger had passed. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on Tuesday's launches, and Saudi authorities had reported no damage or casualties from the interceptions when the reports were filed.

Source: Al Jazeera / AFP

In a separate statement reported by Reuters, the coalition said it had also intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards southern Saudi Arabia and a drone over the oil-rich Eastern Province, in what Reuters described as a night of heightened military activity across Saudi Arabia. The Eastern Province is the heart of the kingdom's oil industry and home to a large community of Indian and Punjabi workers, for whom each new alert night means shelter warnings in the cities where they live and work.

Source: Reuters, via Dev Discourse

3Missiles the coalition said it intercepted early on Tuesday — two towards Riyadh, one towards the south
1Drone the coalition said it intercepted over the Eastern Province (Reuters)
0Damage or casualties reported by Saudi authorities from Tuesday's interceptions when reports were filed
2Days in a row of attacks on Saudi targets — the East-West pipeline was hit on Monday

Sanaa strikes reported as the exchange widened

The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, hitting the al-Mufazir gas station in the Jadar district north of the capital and a building belonging to the state oil company in southern Sanaa, Reuters reported. Saba said civil defence teams were working to extinguish a fire in gas trailers at the al-Mufazir station. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the reported Sanaa strikes, Reuters said.

Source: Reuters, via Dev Discourse

Tuesday's interceptions followed a coalition announcement on Monday that its forces had destroyed three Houthi facilities in Yemen used to manufacture ballistic missile components, solid fuel and electronic systems, according to Anadolu Agency's report of al-Maliki's statement. Those strikes came after Monday's attack on the East-West oil pipeline in the Medina region, which caused a limited fire that was later extinguished, caused no casualties and did not affect pipeline operations, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Source: Anadolu Agency, via The Chronicle Philippines

Awaaz Punjab reported Monday's East-West pipeline attack in the Medina region on Monday. Read: Saudi East-West pipeline struck in Medina region, limited fire

The exchange is the latest in a stepped-up Houthi campaign against Saudi infrastructure amid the wider US-Israeli war with Iran: on Sunday, falling debris damaged the Aramco Tower in Riyadh's financial district, and the Houthis have in recent weeks also targeted Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran in the Eastern Province. Al Jazeera noted the latest strikes came as fighting rages in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's internationally recognised government, backed by Riyadh.

Source: Al Jazeera

What happens next

Watch for a Houthi claim or denial of Tuesday's launches, any Saudi damage assessment, and whether coalition strikes on Sanaa continue. None had been issued when Al Jazeera and Reuters reported on Tuesday.

What is solid

  • The coalition said a ballistic missile and a cruise missile were intercepted over Riyadh and a second ballistic missile over the south on Tuesday, spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on X (Al Jazeera; Anadolu).
  • Explosions were heard in Riyadh, residents received shelter alerts and civil defence later said the danger had passed (AFP, via Al Jazeera).
  • The coalition said on Monday it destroyed three facilities in Yemen used for ballistic missile components, solid fuel and electronic systems (Anadolu).

What is only claimed

  • The drone interception over the Eastern Province and the reported Saudi strikes on Sanaa's al-Mufazir gas station and state oil company building come from a Reuters report citing the coalition and the Houthi-run Saba agency; Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the Sanaa strikes.
  • The Houthis had not commented on Tuesday's missile launches when the reports were filed — the attribution to the Houthis is the coalition's.