Ballistic missile intercepted over Riyadh as fire breaks out near King Khalid airport

ریاض پر بیلسٹک میزائل ناکام، شاہ خالد ایئرپورٹ کے قریب آگ پر قابو پالیا گیا

Ballistic missile intercepted over Riyadh as fire breaks out near King Khalid airport

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said Saturday that the Iran-backed group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn, after a fire broke out near the Saudi capital's international airport. Firefighters extinguished a blaze on a fuel tank bearing the logo of Saudi oil giant Aramco at a fuel depot near Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. Saudi Arabia's air force successfully intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards the city of Riyadh at dawn on Saturday, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X. He said the Houthis also tried to target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Bisha, Taif, Farasan, and Yanbu, adding that the attacks were thwarted by the Gulf monarchy's air defences. The Houthis said they had responded to recent Saudi attacks by carrying out two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram. The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi authorities had earlier issued an overnight air raid alert. Hours after the early morning alert, tracking website FlightRadar24 reported major problems at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, listing it for a while under its maximum disruption index, before normal traffic began to resume. The US State Department and its embassies around the region issued a security alert Saturday, warning of conflict that has the potential to escalate rapidly. An area message received just before 3 AM by Riyadh residents urged them to stay indoors. A 27-year-old Riyadh resident living in the city's north said they heard the alarm and their windows shook, describing the incident as terrifying and unexpected. The event comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Makkah, denouncing it as a cowardly terrorist attack on Islam's holy city, a claim the Houthis strongly denied as a worn-out lie.

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