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The Saudi-led coalition said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Khamis Mushait along with two drones aimed at Riyadh early on Saturday. Coalition forces spokesman Major General Turki Al-Malki stated in posts on X that the projectiles were tracked and neutralized before reaching their targets in the kingdom. Al-Malki added that the coalition continued monitoring additional missile and drone threats from Houthi positions in Yemen. The announcements underscored ongoing vigilance against attacks that have intensified in recent months across Saudi territory.
Saudi civil defence issued alerts overnight for Khamis Mushait and Abha but not for the capital, Reuters reported. No casualties or material damage resulted from the interceptions, according to the coalition’s assessment shared through official channels. The events fit a pattern of Houthi attempts to strike both military installations and population centers in the southwest and central regions of the kingdom.
The Houthis have launched repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, a Reuters review of the conflict found. The group controls much of northern Yemen including its most populous districts and has focused strikes on cities, energy sites and Red Sea vessels in that period. These operations have heightened risks to maritime trade routes already affected by broader regional instability.
Military chiefs from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey met in Riyadh on September 25 to evaluate threats facing the kingdom, Reuters reported from the Saudi capital. The three parties signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement last month, stipulating that an armed attack on any would constitute an attack on all. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman affirmed continued coordination with Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir to address such incidents under the pact.
Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi condemned the Houthi actions as a grave escalation and flagrant violation of Saudi sovereignty in a statement issued after the interceptions. Al-Budaiwi expressed full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and support for measures to protect its security and territorial integrity. He called on the international community to take a firm position against what he termed repeated terrorist attacks and to hold those responsible to account.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis seized Sanaa and displaced the internationally recognized government, a timeline consistently outlined in Reuters coverage of the war. Al-Malki has described prior Houthi targeting of civilians as war crimes in earlier briefings. The coalition has maintained that its defensive responses align with international humanitarian standards to safeguard Saudi citizens and infrastructure.
