Saudi coalition destroys Houthi missiles and drones over kingdom; six injured in Najran

The Saudi-led coalition said on Sunday it had intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles launched towards Khamis Mushait and three drones over the Riyadh and Eastern regions of the kingdom (Saudi Gazette, Arab News).

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki announced the interceptions in statements on Sunday, hours after Saudi Civil Defense issued mobile-phone alerts at around 1:30am local time warning Riyadh and Khamis Mushait residents of a “hostile aerial threat”; the alerts were lifted minutes later (Gulf News).

Separately on Sunday, a Houthi projectile struck a residential area in Najran, injuring six people and damaging three homes and three vehicles; Saudi Civil Defense called attempts to target civilian objects “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” (Gulf News).

The coalition also said a Saudi AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in Najran due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members. The Houthis had claimed via their Saba agency to have shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter in the area; Al-Maliki rejected the claim, posting a photo of Apache helicopters with the message “She will enter the field soon. Remember what she looks like, so you do not forget” (Gulf News).

On Saturday, the coalition said it had destroyed four drones across three regions and released footage it says shows strikes destroying two ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s Saada governorate (Anadolu Agency).

Regional fallout widened: Egypt’s National Defence Council approved sending troops to Saudi Arabia on a defensive mission, while Egypt’s parliament postponed a vote on authorising the deployment to Monday, two lawmakers told AFP (Gulf News). The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert urging Americans to take extreme caution at Saudi airports, with operations at King Khalid International Airport suspended (Gulf News).