Saudi Coalition Intercepts Three Houthi Missiles and Four Drones in Two Regions

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Tuesday that it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis toward two regions of Saudi Arabia, as the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group intensifies.

The coalition said the Houthis launched three ballistic missiles toward the country's Eastern Region and four drones toward its Southern Region. All of the missiles and all of the drones were intercepted and destroyed, the coalition said.

Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Malki said in a statement posted on X that three ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the Eastern Province had been intercepted and destroyed. The coalition had earlier reported shooting down four drones targeting the southern region.

Warnings issued, then lifted

Saudi Civil Defense issued early warning alerts for a potential hostile threat in the Eastern Region and in Kharj governorate. The alerts told residents in both areas that a threat had been detected. Civil Defense later said the danger had passed in both areas.

The Eastern Region is the part of Saudi Arabia that faces the Gulf, and it is home to Dhahran, where Saudi Aramco is headquartered. Kharj sits south of the capital, Riyadh. The coalition statement covered both ends of the country in a single night, with missiles in the east and drones in the south.

What the coalition did not say

The coalition did not say what the weapons were aimed at, and it did not name any target in either region. Reuters reported no casualties from the barrage. Anadolu Agency, reporting the same coalition statement, said the coalition did not say whether anyone was hurt. No damage was reported in the statements carried by the three outlets.

That silence matters because the count itself is clear. Three ballistic missiles were fired at one region and four drones at another, and the coalition says every one of them was stopped before it reached the ground.

A second barrage in two days

The overnight barrage followed a claim on Monday by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree that the group had fired a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and used drones against oil pumping stations. A coalition statement said Saudi forces stopped a missile heading for the capital.

Tuesday's launch was larger than the Monday claim. It spread across two regions at opposite ends of the kingdom, and it drew public early warning alerts in two separate areas, which the Monday incident did not produce in the reporting carried by Reuters.

A truce that no longer holds

Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes on the Houthis since the group captured strategic areas along Yemen's Red Sea coast last month, advancing toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a shipping route for Gulf oil producers. The strait links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and traffic through it carries oil from Gulf producers to markets abroad.

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted attacks between the coalition and the Houthis, who control the capital, Sanaa. Attacks across the Saudi border, which had largely stopped under that truce, are now being reported again on consecutive days.