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The Saudi Ministry of Defense reported the launch of six ballistic missiles toward the Riyadh region by the Houthi militia on Thursday. According to the ministry’s official spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki, air defense forces successfully intercepted and destroyed two of the projectiles. The remaining four missiles landed in the waters of the Arabian Gulf or in uninhabited zones with no casualties or damage recorded from any of the impacts. The Saudi Press Agency carried the full details of the statement outlining the defensive response.
This incident forms part of a pattern of repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi territory that has intensified in recent months. Al Jazeera reported that an earlier strike attempt on Riyadh in September triggered the first air raid alert in the capital since escalation began in July. The coalition has maintained heightened vigilance with air defense systems intercepting multiple threats in the intervening period according to statements from Saudi officials.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for strikes on sensitive sites in Riyadh as well as an Aramco facility in Yanbu in a statement on the same day. The claims were carried by multiple regional outlets including Gulf News which noted residents in the capital reported hearing explosions and seeing smoke near the airport area. Saudi authorities confirmed no significant damage occurred from the attempted strikes on civilian infrastructure in locations including Bisha, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu which were also thwarted by defenses.
Earlier Houthi attacks on aviation facilities have produced verifiable casualties according to Saudi civil aviation authorities. Those figures show three deaths and 36 injuries from strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport in the Asir region. The fatalities included a Sudanese national at the Riyadh site along with a Moroccan and an Algerian woman at Abha where a total of 28 people were wounded in that incident alone.
The Ministry of Defense has described such launches as deliberate targeting of civilian areas and population centers. In prior statements distributed by the Saudi Press Agency, Al-Malki noted that Riyadh is home to more than eight million citizens and residents making the attacks particularly egregious. He has repeatedly affirmed the coalition’s right to respond in line with international humanitarian law to deter further aggression from the militia.
Arab News reported that a separate ballistic missile aimed at Khamis Mushait was intercepted and destroyed on the same day as the Riyadh incident. The coordinated nature of these attempts points to sustained operational capacity by Houthi forces despite ongoing Saudi-led responses in Yemen. Coalition monitoring systems continue to track launch sites in areas under militia control with a focus on preventing threats to both military and civilian targets across the kingdom.
