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The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis announced on Thursday that its air defenses had intercepted six ballistic missiles launched toward Taif and Yanbu. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki shared the update through a series of messages on X, identifying the origin of the launches as Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. No casualties or damage occurred as a result of the interceptions, according to available reports. The coalition described the missiles as being directed at civilian areas.
“Escalations and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” al-Maliki said. The spokesman has used similar language in recent weeks while documenting multiple Houthi launch attempts. His comments also typically reference the role of external backers in supplying the group with advanced weaponry.
An assessment by the Middle East Forum covering the period from September 13 to 19, 2026, determined that Houthi forces initiated missile or drone attacks on six out of those seven days. The assessment contrasted Houthi claims of strikes causing large fires and destruction at Yanbu’s oil infrastructure with the coalition’s account of interceptions and only minor reported effects. Coalition data cited in the assessment indicated 13 civilians wounded from attacks on September 14 in areas including Taif.
Taif serves as a key tourism center in the mountains east of Mecca, while Yanbu is a major industrial port on the Red Sea with significant energy facilities. The selection of these sites for targeting follows a pattern seen in earlier barrages that the coalition has attributed to the Houthis. The ongoing conflict, which began with the coalition’s intervention in 2015, has featured hundreds of such missile interceptions over the years according to Saudi military tallies.
Al-Maliki issued a comparable statement following an attempted strike on Riyadh earlier in the month. That incident on September 19 similarly ended with the missile being downed before impact. Such events have kept Saudi air defense units in a state of continuous readiness throughout September.
