Yemen Houthis fire missiles at Riyadh, Saudis thwart attack

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said via its Al Masirah TV channel that it had carried out a "large-scale attack" deep in Saudi Arabia.

It said it on Tuesday that it had targeted the Saudi Defence Ministry, King Salman Air Base and other military facilities using winged ballistic missiles and armed drones.

The Saudi-led coalition battling the group for five years said it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

A Reuters witness in Riyadh heard two loud blasts and saw billows of smoke in the sky over the city close to dawn.

Violence between the two sides has surged after the expiry last month of a six-week ceasefire prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, with the Houthis launching missiles and drones towards Saudi cities and the coalition responding with air strikes.

READ MORE: Yemeni army, Houthis clash in central province

Al Masirah said the Houthi's military spokesman would make an announcement in the next few hours.

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al Malki said its forces had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi missile launched at Riyadh in a "deliberate hostile action designed to target civilians".

In a statement on Saudi state news agency SPA, he said the coalition had intercepted three Houthi missiles fired towards the southern border cities of Najran and Jizan, as well as several armed drones launched towards the kingdom late on Monday.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the Saudi-backed government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. The conflict is largely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

READ MORE: Much to Saudi's dismay, the Houthis are standing their ground in Yemen