Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles fired toward Riyadh and toward Khamis Mushait, near the Yemeni border, late on Monday, in the latest night of the renewed Saudi–Houthi war. A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis targeted both cities late on Monday, according to Bloomberg, and Saudi authorities issued warnings to residents of the two areas when the attacks were detected. No casualties or damage from Monday night's attacks were reported in the sources opened for this article.
What did the coalition and the Houthis each say happened?
The two sides gave conflicting accounts, and neither could be independently confirmed. The coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh on Monday evening and, in a separate statement posted on X, that it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched toward Khamis Mushait, a southern city that hosts King Khalid Air Base, AFP reported. Air raid sirens sounded in Riyadh on Monday evening and residents heard explosions, the Associated Press reported, and AFP said a loud government phone alert warning of a hostile aerial threat went out in the capital before the interception was announced — delaying the kickoff of a football match in the city — in what AFP described as the first use of the phone alert system in Riyadh in weeks.
The Houthis said they fired the missiles and claimed hits. Military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Monday evening that the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile and claimed it hit its target accurately, and that a drone attack on King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait had also scored a direct hit, Xinhua reported via IANS. The coalition's interception statements contradict those hit claims; the airport remains closed until October 17 after the past week's attacks, which Bloomberg put at at least 18 people killed and more than 300 wounded in total.
What was reported inside Yemen overnight?
The Houthis reported a new round of airstrikes on areas under their control overnight. The rebel-run al-Masirah television said on Tuesday that two airstrikes hit the Houthi-held Red Sea island of Kamaran, a third hit Qanawis district, 55 kilometres northwest of the port city of Hodeida, and further airstrikes were reported in al-Jawf province, which borders Saudi Arabia, according to AP's Tuesday roundup. Al-Masirah blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes and gave no further details; the rebels also said they had shot down a Saudi drone over Saada province. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to the claim, AP reported, and AP carried no casualty figures for the overnight strikes — so the attribution and the scale of the Yemen strikes rest on the Houthi-run outlet's account as reported by AP, with no Saudi comment available at publication time.
How is the United States being drawn in?
A senior Houthi official warned Washington directly on Monday. Political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti told AFP that if the United States joined what he called the aggression against Yemen, the group would respond swiftly and painfully against the US and its interests in the region, and he warned workers at Saudi oil facilities and airports to stay away from those sites. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the weekend attacks and repeated that he was considering joining the fight against the Houthis, Bloomberg reported; the US is already assisting Riyadh with intelligence, targeting and aerial refuelling, but has so far resisted direct strikes. Iran, for its part, reiterated on Monday that it was ready to use its good offices to facilitate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, according to Xinhua via IANS, and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, told the Shura Council on Tuesday that Gulf countries needed closer security coordination, including stepped-up efforts to secure maritime routes and energy infrastructure, AP reported.
Monday night's exchange shows the pattern of the past week holding: nightly Houthi fire on the Saudi capital and the south, Saudi-led strikes reported back into Houthi-held Yemen, and the open question of whether Washington moves from support to direct participation.
This is not financial advice. Contested claims in this article — the Houthi hit claims and the attribution of the overnight Yemen strikes — are attributed in the text with their limitations stated.
