Multiple explosions were heard in the Saudi capital on Tuesday, as the military coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed group towards Riyadh.
AFP journalists heard the blasts and residents received an alert on their mobile phones instructing them to take shelter due to an “aerial threat.”
“Air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh,” the Saudi-led coalition posted on X.
A subsequent message from the country’s civil defense agency said the danger had passed.
The coalition had earlier said air defenses also destroyed a ballistic missile headed towards the southern region overnight.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has faced near-daily strikes from the Houthis for weeks, after a truce in their long-running conflict unraveled in July.
On Sunday, the Houthis claimed attacks on Riyadh’s business district, where witnesses said the Aramco Tower was damaged.
Saudi authorities said the building suffered minor damage from falling shrapnel after an “attempted attack.”
Images released by Saudi Arabia’s press agency on Tuesday showed the Riyadh region’s deputy governor and other officials inspecting the building, with visible damage to some of its floors.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Aramco tankers, refineries, storage areas and the company’s headquarters.
The coalition has in response been launching airstrikes against Houthi positions inside Yemen.
According to Houthi news agency Saba, Saudi warplanes on Tuesday carried out a series of strikes on the capital Sanaa and its outskirts, targeting a gas facility and a building belonging to the Yemeni state oil company.
The coalition initially began fighting the Houthis in March 2015, months after the group seized Sanaa and forced out Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
