RIYADH: Saudi air defenses successfully shot down a Houthi ballistic missile north of Riyadh, according to an early Wednesday announcement by the coalition supporting Yemen’s sovereignty.
Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, stated on X that the missile’s launch platform was actively tracked by the Coalition’s intelligence system over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and would be destroyed.
The Iran-backed group is currently engaged in conflict with Coalition forces for control over the strategic Bab Al-Mandab strait, having previously threatened Saudi shipping routes through the Red Sea.
Yemeni government officials reported early Wednesday that the militia group also targeted Aden’s international airport using two ballistic missiles.
In a separate incident on Monday night, three individuals sustained injuries after airports in Najran and Jazan were targeted by the group. An earlier incoming missile targeting Khamis Mushait was successfully intercepted by Saudi forces.
During a Cabinet session on Tuesday, Saudi ministers accused the rebels of prioritizing military escalation over peace, while reaffirming the Kingdom’s backing for Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council and its internationally recognized government to help restore state institutions.
As part of an intensive counteroffensive operation named “Dawn of Yemen,” the Coalition destroyed a weapons depot containing 20 ballistic missiles hidden inside a mountain in Saada on Tuesday.
Government forces have also seized control of the vital Bab Al-Mandab strait alongside the coastal city of Mokha, delivering a major blow to the rebels’ ambitions of controlling the critical international waterway.
The Houthis seized control of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and have since retained dominance over large regions of Yemen. They have faced widespread condemnation for targeting civilian areas within the Kingdom, intensifying Muslim outrage after a drone launched by the group was shot down just outside Makkah, Islam’s holiest city.
For more details on regional developments, you can watch this report on Ballistic Missile Fired At Riyadh. This video provides additional context regarding the interception of missiles targeting the Saudi capital by air defense systems.
For more details: Navamalayalam.com