The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on Sunday that its air defences had shot down three ballistic missiles launched toward the kingdom by the Iran-aligned group.
Coalition spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Maliki said in a post on X that two of the projectiles were aimed at the capital, Riyadh. He separately confirmed the interception of a third ballistic missile fired at the Eastern province.
Escalating clashes and the Dawn of Yemen operation
The missile launches come as fighting grows across Yemen between the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, and government forces. Last month, the government launched the Dawn of Yemen operation, which aims to retake Houthi-held land, including the capital, Sanaa.
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Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that the coalition had carried out 105 air strikes and missile attacks over 24 hours against Sanaa and seven other governorates. He said the total number of strikes since the escalation began had reached 4,369.
Saree also claimed the group had carried out six operations against Aramco oil facilities, Riyadh airport and Saudi military positions on both sides of the border.
Deadly strikes reported in al-Shariyah village
Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said on Saturday that 33 people, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in coalition air attacks on al-Shariyah village near Sanaa. He added that at least 39 others were wounded.
According to al-Asbahi, the strikes hit homes, roads, paramedics and civil defence teams in the village, which lies in the Bani Hushaish district east of Sanaa. The coalition had made no immediate comment on the reported strikes, and the reports could not be independently verified.
Houthi-affiliated media reported on Sunday that several areas of the Shada border district in Saada province had come under artillery shelling.
Taiz market attack and UN casualty figures
On Friday, an attack on a market in Taiz province killed 30 people. The Houthis blamed Saudi air strikes, while Yemeni government forces accused the group of firing a ballistic missile at the site.
The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and almost 300,000 displaced since a 2022 ceasefire collapsed in July, after the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports.
In September, the Houthis seized much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast in a rapid offensive. In October, government forces began a campaign to reclaim territory held by the group.
