Saudi coalition says struck Houthi missile facilities
The operation had destroyed four ballistic missile launchers, as well as a missile depot and tunnels.
A BUILDING in southwestern Saudi Arabia is damaged after it was hit by debris from the interception of two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis struck several of its missile launchers and storage facilities, a spokesperson said on Monday, while the Iran-backed group claimed a new attack on Riyadh’s international airport.
The coalition’s operation came a day after explosions rattled Saudi Arabia’s capital and authorities sent text messages to residents warning them of a “hostile aerial threat” to the city, which has been heavily targeted by the Houthis in recent weeks.
The Saudi-led military coalition’s spokesperson Turki al-Maliki posted on X on Monday that the operation had destroyed four ballistic missile launchers, as well as a missile depot and tunnels used by the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen.
The operation “focused on cutting off Houthi militia supply lines between areas under their control,” he added.
The group have carried out waves of strikes on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, including an attack this month that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade.
“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward Riyadh,” al-Maliki also said on Monday.
The airport reopened and fights resumed on Sunday with the Houthis warning travelers to avoid the facility, calling it a “military target.”
On Monday, the Houthis said once again they had attacked the airport “with a ballistic missile, striking the target with precision,” according to a post by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree on social media.
He said the Houthis had also struck oil pumping stations with drones.
On Sunday, the Houthis had said they launched an attack on the airport in Riyadh, after the kingdom announced flights were resuming.
The airport closure had been a major blow for Saudi Arabia, forcing the postponement of the kingdom’s flagship investment conference until 2027 and disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.
The Dakar Rally also joined a growing list of events that were cancelled, postponed or relocated in the fallout from the war.
Saree had warned that Riyadh airport was still “unsafe” and a “military target.”
“The Saudi regime shall bear the consequences of any operations at the airport,” the spokesperson said.
Saudi Arabia and the government it backs in Yemen have come under sustained attack in recent weeks from the Houthis as a years-long truce broke down in the summer, shifting the focus of the wider United States-Iran war that erupted in February.
Security talks
Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan will hold talks on regional security with Iranian officials on Monday in Tehran, Iranian and Saudi authorities said.
“As agreed, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will participate in this meeting,” said Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
In an interview with state television, Kani said the meeting will also include Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Dr Rayed Krimly confirmed that the kingdom’s defense minister was heading a delegation to Tehran on Monday.