The Saudi-led military coalition announced, on Monday, the interception and destruction of a ballistic missile launched by the Ansar Allah Houthi group towards the capital, Riyadh, and carried out strikes targeting sites for storing and launching missiles in areas under the group’s control in Yemen, after the group announced new attacks on Riyadh airport and military bases in the south of the kingdom.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on the X platform that Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the group towards Riyadh, without providing additional details about the location of its interception or damage.
Al-Maliki later announced that the coalition destroyed five tunnels to store ballistic missiles, four launching pads, in addition to a missile warehouse, in areas under the control of the Ansar Allah group in Yemen.
He explained that the operations aimed to cut off the group's supply lines between its areas of control, in addition to targeting its fortifications and the gatherings of its members and military equipment on the lines of contact inside Yemen.
On the other hand, the military spokesman for the Ansar Allah group, Yahya Saree, announced the implementation of a new missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, saying that the attack was carried out with a ballistic missile and achieved an “accurate hit,” as he put it.
On Sunday, the group announced the implementation of three operations using dozens of ballistic missiles, targeting Riyadh Airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, in addition to the southern naval base of the Border Guard Forces in Jizan.
Saree said that the attacks hit their targets and resulted in deaths and injuries among Saudi soldiers, without providing evidence or a specific toll, and there was no Saudi confirmation of these losses.
On Sunday, several areas in Saudi Arabia witnessed a series of weather alerts and explosions, after the authorities sent warning messages to residents about possible air threats and called on them to take shelter.
The warnings included Riyadh, Khamis Mushait, Tanuma, Al-Namas, Taif, Abha and Jizan, while the coalition announced the interception of at least ten ballistic missiles launched by the group towards the south of the Kingdom.
The coalition also announced the interception of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh and a cruise missile towards Khamis Mushait.
The Saudi News Agency quoted the civil defense spokesman as saying that two ballistic missiles were intercepted and destroyed over the governorates of Khamis Mushait and Ahad Rufaidah, resulting in the injury of a Saudi citizen and a resident of Asian nationality, in addition to material damage to three residential buildings and seven vehicles.
A resident of Khamis Mushait told AFP that more than seven missiles passed over the area during the day, adding that the explosions were so intense that buildings shook.
On the other hand, the military spokesman for the Ansar Allah group accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out 56 raids and missile strikes within 24 hours, targeting what he described as civilian objects in the governorates of Hajjah, Lahj, Amran, Saada, Al-Jawf, Taiz, and Ibb.
Saree said that the attacks were carried out using F-15 and Typhoon fighters launched from the Khamis Mushait and Taif bases, in addition to missile strikes from Najran, and it was not possible to independently verify these accusations.
The new attacks come at a time when King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is witnessing disruption in air traffic, after being subjected to repeated attacks over the past weeks, which resulted in deaths and injuries and led to its temporary closure.
On Sunday, the airport's website showed scheduled domestic and international flights, including flights coming from Dubai, Paris and Cairo, in an indication of a limited return to air traffic.
However, data from the Flight Radar flight tracking website showed the departure of a small number of planes, while a large number of flights continued to be cancelled, and Saudi officials did not provide additional details to AFP regarding the scope of resuming operations at the airport.
The Ansar Allah group renewed its warnings to airlines and travelers against using Riyadh Airport or crossing Saudi airspace, except for the airspace associated with Mecca and Medina, considering it unsafe.
The security developments were reflected in a number of sporting and economic events in the Kingdom, as the Asian Football Confederation announced the postponement of the match between Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia and Al-Wasl of the Emirates, which was scheduled for Monday in Riyadh, as part of the elite AFC Champions League competitions.
Agence France-Presse quoted sources in Al-Wasl Club that the team’s delegation was unable to travel to Riyadh due to national airlines canceling their flights to Saudi Arabia.
The International Automobile Federation announced on Saturday that the 2027 Dakar Rally, scheduled to be held between January 1 and 15, will not be organized in Saudi Arabia due to recent developments in the region.
The confrontations between Saudi Arabia and the Ansar Allah group have witnessed an escalation since the beginning of October, including repeated attacks on airports and facilities inside the Kingdom.
