The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis has said it intercepted and destroyed four drones over Riyadh and other regions, the latest in a wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil facilities.
“We intercepted and destroyed four drones over the past few hours in the regions of Riyadh, the Eastern Province, and the South,” coalition spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Maliki said on Saturday.
He also posted footage of what he described as the air force intercepting cruise missiles and drones and striking ballistic missile launchers belonging to the Houthis.
Riyadh’s King Khalid airport has come under at least 20 attacks – including one last week that killed 13 people – since the fighting between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government flared in July.
On Thursday, at least five people were killed in missile strikes near the presidential palace in Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government. It blamed the Houthis for the attack.
On Friday, the Yemeni government said the Houthis fired two missiles at Aden’s airport, while government forces said they had advanced in Marib province, northeast of Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia is backing a government counteroffensive, known as Dawn of Yemen, and has carried out air strikes on the Houthis, including on an oil facility in Sanaa.
