Saudi Arabia’s military coalition said on Tuesday, November 10, that it intercepted a ballistic missile and a cruise missile aimed at Riyadh, plus another ballistic missile headed towards the kingdom’s south. The coalition blamed Yemen’s Houthi movement. Reuters and AFP reported the announcement amid a widening exchange of attacks between the Saudi-backed coalition and the group.
Saudi civil defence issued threat alerts for the capital and the southern cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait, then said the danger had passed, according to Reuters. AFP reported explosions heard in Riyadh. The coalition also said it destroyed a drone over the eastern part of the country. The missile and drone accounts are official claims; the full circumstances of the launches have not been independently established.
Across the border, the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported strikes in Sanaa on a fuel facility north of the city and a state oil company building in the south. The Associated Press said the Houthi-run health ministry reported one person killed and nine wounded in two airstrikes. AP could not independently verify who carried out the strikes, and the coalition had not confirmed responsibility when Al Jazeera reported the claims.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree also claimed attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and an oil facility at Abqaiq. Reuters said Saudi authorities had not immediately commented on those assertions. The competing statements leave the reported impact at those locations unconfirmed. Both sides have traded missile, drone and air attacks during an intensified campaign tied to Yemen’s long-running war.
Energy infrastructure has become a central concern. Saudi officials said an attack on the East-West oil pipeline in the Medina region on Monday caused a small fire that was extinguished without interrupting operations. The Houthis disputed Saudi allegations about that location while claiming a separate strike on the pipeline in Riyadh province, Reuters reported. Those differing claims have not been independently reconciled.
Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia has used the pipeline to move about four million barrels of crude a day towards the Red Sea while conflict disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The latest alerts and disputed strike reports therefore matter beyond the immediate battlefield. Saudi authorities and the Houthi movement have yet to provide independently verifiable accounts of all the reported attacks or their effects.
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