Saudi air defences down Houthi missile and drone as Yemen war spills over the border

Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile and a drone launched by Yemen's Houthis towards the south of the kingdom on Sunday, the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki, said, as the war between Riyadh and the Iran-aligned group entered its fourth month of near-daily attacks.

The coalition did not say what the missile and drone were aimed at, and reported no casualties or damage, according to Anadolu Agency and the Saudi Gazette. Earlier on Sunday, Saudi authorities issued emergency warnings for the city of Abha and Khamis Mushait governorate in the south-west, and later said the danger had passed, Anadolu reported.

What happened

Al-Maliki announced the interceptions in two separate posts on X on Sunday evening, one for the ballistic missile and one for the drone, Anadolu reported. They came hours after the coalition said it had carried out an operation to "neutralise" resources the Houthis use to launch attacks, particularly ballistic missiles and drones.

The Houthis had not commented on Sunday's launches by early Monday India time.

Sunday's attack followed a heavier one on Thursday, 29 October, when the coalition said two ballistic missiles were intercepted over Riyadh. Saudi Civil Defence said falling debris injured one civilian and damaged a house and a vehicle, Kurdistan24 reported, citing AFP. On Friday the coalition said it had destroyed a Houthi drone over the Mecca region. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree called that account a "massive and egregious fabrication" and said the group's targets were Saudi oil installations and military bases.

How the war escalated

The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, which had largely been on hold under a 2022 truce, resumed this year. AFP has reported almost daily attacks since July, when the Houthis also declared a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia, according to Al Jazeera.

The deadliest attack came on 10 October, when a Houthi missile hit a passenger terminal at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said 12 people were killed and 309 wounded, among them four Saudis and two Bangladeshis; later reports put the toll at 13. India's Ministry of External Affairs called the attack "dastardly" and said attacks on civilians were "completely unacceptable", Al Jazeera reported.

On 26 October the coalition said it had destroyed four ballistic missile launchers and five tunnels used to store missiles in Houthi-held Yemen. The Houthis, for their part, say they have targeted Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq plant, the Ras Tanura and Rabigh refineries and airports in Riyadh and Dammam; those claims have not been independently confirmed. The Houthi-run health ministry has said Saudi strikes have killed civilians in Yemen, figures that cannot be independently verified. United Nations figures cited by AFP put the number of deaths in Yemen since the fighting resumed at more than 1,600, with more than 275,000 people displaced.

The US Embassy in Riyadh has told Americans in Saudi Arabia to exercise extreme caution around airports, Fox News reported on Sunday.

The wider war

The Saudi-Houthi front is one of several opened up by the US-Iran war that began in late February. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and US President Donald Trump said in October that they had re-emerged "probably at the behest of Iran" to drive up oil prices before the US elections, according to CBS News. Iran and the US are exploring a deal through Qatari mediators, while ships continue to be attacked around the Strait of Hormuz.

Why it matters for India

Saudi Arabia is one of India's biggest suppliers of crude oil and home to one of the largest Indian communities abroad, so attacks on its airports and oil installations bear directly on India's energy costs and on the safety of Indian workers and travellers. With the Strait of Hormuz disrupted, Saudi Arabia has leaned more on its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, which makes its western coast and the southern Red Sea, where the Houthis operate, more important to supplies reaching India.

What happens next

The coalition says its operations against Houthi missile and drone sites will continue. The Houthis have threatened Saudi oil facilities and airports, apart from those serving Mecca and Medina, and have warned the US against joining Saudi strikes.