RIYADH: Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital and a separate drone strike on an air base in Khamis Mushait, raising fresh questions about the outcome of the reported operations.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group targeted the Riyadh airport on Monday evening, describing the missile strike as accurate. He also claimed that a drone directly struck the air base in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
According to Saree’s statement, Houthi forces used a ballistic missile against King Khalid International Airport, one of Saudi Arabia’s major aviation gateways. He maintained that the weapon successfully reached its intended target.
The spokesman separately announced an operation against the air base in Khamis Mushait, a Saudi city near the Yemeni border. He said the drone attack achieved a direct hit, but the supplied statement did not provide supporting evidence establishing the extent of any damage.
Both assertions remain claims by the Houthi movement. The announcement alone does not establish whether either weapon reached its target or whether the reported operations caused casualties or destruction.
Saudi Interception Announcement Offers a Different Account
Saudi Arabia had not confirmed the claimed successful strikes at the time of the initial report. However, the Saudi-led coalition had announced earlier that air defences intercepted and destroyed incoming missiles.
Reuters subsequently reported that Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh shortly before the group announced its airport attack. The report also carried the Houthi claim concerning the drone operation against Khamis Mushait.
The available accounts leave an important question unresolved: whether the interception announcement and the claimed airport strike concern the same missile. Neither the supplied statement nor the cited reporting establishes a successful impact from this latest claimed launch.
The immediate outcome of the two reported operations remains unclear. The material available for this report does not establish casualties, physical damage or operational disruption attributable specifically to these latest claims.
For now, the central development is the Houthi announcement of two attacks, alongside Saudi reporting that an incoming ballistic missile towards Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed.
