Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles fired at Riyadh and three drones heading for the Eastern Province

Saudi air defences intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh in the early hours of Sunday, November 15. The interception was announced by the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) at 4:35 am local time. According to al-Maliki, the air defences “intercepted and destroyed” the two missiles. The coalition also says it shot down three drones heading for the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

In Riyadh, Saudi Civil Defence activated a siren at 4:08 am, warning residents of an aerial threat. A few minutes later three loud explosions were heard, followed by an all-clear signal. Civil Defence urged residents to keep following safety instructions and to avoid crowds and filming.

It is the coalition’s second announcement within a few hours. On Saturday, November 14, al-Maliki had announced that air defences destroyed two Houthi drones over Riyadh and the south, after the Houthis claimed to have hit the capital’s airport and a pumping station of the East-West pipeline. On the evening of Thursday, November 12, the Houthis had said they hit the East-West pipeline, Yanbu and Aramco in Riyadh.

For their part, the Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed in a post on X that Houthi forces shot down an armed reconnaissance aircraft of the coalition carrying out “hostile operations” in the airspace of al-Jawf province. According to Saree it was the fifth aircraft downed since the start of the escalation. He also claimed the coalition carried out 72 air raids in 24 hours on the provinces of Saada, Taiz, Lahij and al-Jawf. Yemen’s government army says its forces gained ground in heavy fighting in the al-Hazm and Madghal areas of al-Jawf. None of these claims has been independently confirmed.

Since September 23, at least 26 people have been killed in Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, 23 of them in strikes on airports, according to the official toll of the Saudi authorities. The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, the East-West pipeline and oil infrastructure in the east and south of the country. The US embassy in Riyadh has called on Americans in the Middle East to maintain “heightened vigilance” because of the increased threat of Houthi attacks, warning that hostilities could escalate “quickly” beyond the immediate region. It also asks them to be extremely careful if they use Saudi airports.