The Saudi coalition intercepts and destroys two Houthi marches towards Riyadh

The Saudi-led “Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen” announced on Saturday that air defenses “intercepted and destroyed two drones” launched by the Houthi group in Yemen towards the Riyadh region.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki said on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter): “We are monitoring and following a missile threat and drones towards the Kingdom,” and added: “The air defenses intercepted and destroyed two drones launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the Riyadh region.”

The attack came hours after the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced, on Friday, that the Chief of the Defense Forces and the Chiefs of the General Staff of the countries party to the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan) held a meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in which they discussed “ways forward in developing intelligence cooperation and military coordination, in a way that contributes to strengthening deterrence and collective defense.”

The Saudi Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, also discussed, during a meeting with the Pakistani Army Commander, Field Marshal Asim Munir, “the sinful attacks that targeted Mecca and the civil and economic installations in the Kingdom.”

Prince Khalid bin Salman added, via the “X” platform (formerly Twitter): “We praised the outcomes of the meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the countries of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, and we discussed the sinful attacks that targeted Mecca Al-Mukarramah, and the civil and economic facilities in the Kingdom, and we confirmed the continuation of joint work to confront these attacks in accordance with the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.”

The Mutual Defense Agreement - which was concluded last month and is similar in nature to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreements - stipulates that any attack against any of the member states “shall be considered an attack against all of them.”