Saudi airstrikes hit Sanaa as Houthis claim attacks on Riyadh

Sanaa: Saudi airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Monday morning as the Houthi group claimed new missile and drone attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and southern Yemen.

The Houthi-run media outlet Al-Masirah TV reported the airstrikes were “Saudi aggression” against Sanaa. Local residents told Xinhua they heard loud explosions across the city. Details about the locations hit, casualties, and damage were not immediately available.

The airstrikes came amid an intensifying exchange of attacks between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, which control the capital and large swathes of Yemeni territory, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in two statements posted on social media platform X early Monday that the group launched a ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

The missile “accurately” struck the airport, Saree said, adding that Houthi forces also launched several drones targeting crude oil pumping stations along Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, and achieved “accurate hits.” Saudi authorities have not immediately commented on the claims.

In a separate statement, Saree said the Houthis have carried out two operations targeting military gatherings and weapons depots belonging to forces backed by Saudi Arabia in the Salah al-Din area of Aden in southern Yemen and the al-Waht area in neighbouring Lahj province.

Several ballistic missiles were used in the attacks, he said, noting that they caused dozens of casualties and destroyed or set fire to military vehicles and weapons depots.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition said that it has carried out a “qualitative military operation” targeting Houthi threats in Yemen, in response to repeated attacks on Saudi Arabia.

In a post on the social platform X, Coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said that the operation has destroyed or neutralised several military targets in areas controlled by the Houthi group, including five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchers and a missile-storage facility.

The operation also targeted Houthi supply lines linking areas under the group’s control, as well as fortifications, personnel and military equipment along front lines inside Yemen, Al-Maliki added.

He said the coalition would continue taking deterrent military measures against the Houthis to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

Separately, the coalition announced on Monday that it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh, the Saudi capital, where explosions were heard early on Monday.

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