Who Are Yemen’s Houthis
The Iran-backed Houthi movement said it launched ballistic-missile and drone attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait. The Saudi-led military coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh. Saudi authorities are investigating why air-defence systems did not provide earlier warning.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said a ballistic missile “accurately hit” King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The movement also claimed that a drone directly struck King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The source says the Houthi missiles and drones travelled more than 1,000 kilometres to reach Riyadh.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said a ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh by the Houthi militia had been intercepted and destroyed. The statement differs from the Houthi claim that a missile hit the Riyadh airport.
Saudi Arabia is examining why its air-defence systems did not issue an earlier warning. The investigation follows the competing accounts of the reported attacks and their outcome.
The Houthis call themselves Ansar Allah, meaning “Defenders of God”. The movement emerged in the 1990s and seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014. According to the source, it remains in control of northwest Yemen.
Saudi Arabia led a military intervention against the Houthis in early 2015. A UN-brokered truce was reached in 2022. The latest incidents have been described as part of a string of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports since the previous week.
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