Saudi Arabia intercepts missile near Riyadh

Saudi Arabia says it’s air defence forces have intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh fired from neighbouring Yemen

State media says it was brought down near King Khaled Airport on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday night and did not cause any casualties.

Rocket fragments fell near the airport grounds, but air traffic carried on normally, the Saudi civil aviation authority said on its official Twitter account.

Residents of northern Riyadh reported hearing a deafening explosion.

#SaudiArabia intercepts missile from Yemen northeast of Riyadh https://t.co/6FSuYl0ga1 pic.twitter.com/09UmLLztpZ— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) 5 novembre 2017

No other ballistic missile attack has come so close to the Saudi capital although Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen, have fired missiles into Saudi territory before.

A TV channel linked to the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said that this time the airport was the target.

A Saudi-led air coalition has been bombing the Houthis in Yemen’s civil war which has left killed at least 10,000 people dead and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Due to severe acute #malnutrition, Tahani feels weak all the time & cannot express joyfulness. #YemenRead her story https://t.co/VFRMJGVCrI pic.twitter.com/ymPYHzsWTo— UNICEF Yemen (@UNICEF_Yemen) 30 octobre 2017

with Reuters