Saudi intercepts Houthi missiles and drones

Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh and shot down two drones in another part of the country yesterday, in the latest attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Loud blasts were heard in the sky above the capital, while two other missiles were intercepted over the southern areas of Jizan and Najran.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a drone aimed at an airport in the south-western province of Abha, which led to a temporary suspension of air traffic, and another that was approaching a “civilian object” in Jizan province.

The Houthis, in a statement carried by a news agency under their control, said the attack on Riyadh was directed at the Defence Ministry.

In recent months the rebels have launched missiles aimed at Riyadh and dozens

Ballistic missiles were fired at the Saudi capital Riyadh and the southern areas of Jizan and Najran, but none of them hit their targets

have been fired at southern Saudi cities that border Yemen.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco said yesterday that operations were running smoothly after the Houthis claimed to have struck a plant belonging to the oil giant.

The Houthis said they launched a drone attack on an Aramco facility in southern Saudi Arabia although the company said its plants there were operating “normally and safely”.

The rebel-run Al Masirah TV channel did not say when the attack took place or give details of any damage.

“The air force announced the execution of air strikes with the Qasef-1 aircraft on Aramco in Jizan province,” the channel said on its Twitter account, referring to a drone the Houthis unveiled last year.

Saudi Aramco operates a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Jizan, which is part of a new economic city on the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed rebels have repeatedly launched ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia, which has intercepted all of them.

The arms monitor Conflict Armament Research said it had evidence showing that the Qasef-1 and other Houthi weapons were made in Iran and were not of indigenous design, “in contrast to Houthi statements”.

The Saudi-led coalition, in which the UAE plays a leading role, intervened in the Yemen war in 2015 at the request of the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.