Riyadh’s alarm sounded before dawn: two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at the Saudi capital are shot down

Saudi air defences shot down two ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh before dawn on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on X the missiles had been launched by the Houthis and were “intercepted and destroyed”. Riyadh residents received an alert through the National Early Warning Platform; authorities later said the danger had passed and told people not to gather or film.

Over about three hours on Sunday morning, air defences also brought down three drones over the Eastern Region, the heart of the kingdom’s oil industry. On Saturday, two more drones were destroyed over Riyadh and the south. No damage or casualties have been reported.

How serious is the campaign against Saudi Arabia?

Deadly. Saudi authorities say at least 26 people have been killed in suspected Houthi drone and missile attacks since 23 September. The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, the East-West oil pipeline and oil facilities in the east and south.

On Saturday the US Embassy in Riyadh issued a nationwide security alert, urging Americans to stay vigilant and to take extreme caution at airports, citing civilian casualties and severe travel disruption from earlier attacks.

What is happening inside Yemen?

The war on the ground has intensified. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, say they shot down a coalition reconnaissance aircraft over al-Jawf province; the coalition has not confirmed it. Yemen’s government forces and the coalition report heavy fighting and dozens of air strikes in Marib, al-Jawf, Taiz and Lahij. The UN’s migration agency says more than 340,000 Yemenis have been displaced since August.

Why does this matter beyond the Gulf?

It is one front of a wider war. The attacks on Riyadh came on the same morning Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said six drones had targeted a US radar in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Strait of Hormuz sit at the centre of the world’s oil supply, and every strike on the region’s energy network feeds into fuel prices, including at Australian bowsers.

VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.