The Saudi-led military coalition said Thursday it intercepted a cruise missile over Medina province, home to the second-holiest city in Islam, as the Houthi movement in Yemen continued a wave of strikes against civilian infrastructure across the kingdom.
The coalition stopped short of directly blaming the Houthis for the cruise missile, but Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree moved quickly to deny involvement. “What the Saudi enemy claims regarding targeting toward the city of Medina is a great and immense falsehood,” Saree said at a press conference.
The denial follows a pattern. The Saudis did name the Houthis as responsible for an attack on an electric power distribution station in Medina earlier this month, which the Houthis dismissed as a “lie.” The group also denied launching a drone at Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, on September 15 — an attack that drew condemnation from nearly every Muslim-majority nation except Iran.
The Houthis have been less evasive about other targets. The group has claimed responsibility for repeated missile strikes on civilian airports and oil facilities elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, with Saree saying one missile scored a “precise and direct hit” on the airport in Riyadh. On Thursday the group repeated its warning that Saudi airspace is unsafe for all airlines, and Saree promised further strikes on oil facilities and airports “deep inside Saudi Arabia.”
The coalition released new footage Thursday documenting roughly 20 drone and missile attacks the Houthis launched against King Khalid Airport in Riyadh between October 1 and 11.
France’s government advised its citizens Wednesday against using King Khalid International Airport, as well as airports in Jeddah and Dammam, and urged against travel to Riyadh, Jeddah or Dammam “unless necessary.”
Attack on Aden Presidential Palace
The Houthis also struck territory held by Yemen’s internationally recognized government, hitting the presidential palace in Aden — the port city that has served as the government’s headquarters for much of the period since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Yemen’s government confirmed the attack, saying several security personnel at the palace were killed or wounded. “Aden will remain the hub for the operations of state institutions as they carry out their duties towards citizens,” the government said in a statement.
Yemen’s Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the Houthis fired at least five ballistic missiles at the palace in what he called a “terrorist” attack. “We reassure the sons of our Yemeni people that the Prime Minister and all members of the government are safe and well,” Eryani said. The Houthis countered that they had been targeting a military base and ammunitions depot used by Saudi troops within the palace compound.
Lebanese media reported Wednesday night that Saree claimed Houthi forces had destroyed a Saudi Typhoon fighter jet with a surface-to-air missile as it prepared to strike Houthi positions in Yemen. Saree also said the Saudi coalition carried out 42 air and missile strikes in Yemen on Wednesday, hitting civilian sites in Sanaa and other cities.
