RIYADH: At least one person was injured by falling debris from an intercepted ballistic missile in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern governorate of Ahad Rafidah, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported early Saturday.
The missile was fired late Friday by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group, SPA said, quoting a spokesman for the Saudi Directorate of Civil Defense. The incident injured an Asian resident and damaged a prayer room inside a building and several vehicles, the spokesman said.
Ahad Rafidah is in the Asir region, which has been repeatedly targeted by Houthi missile and drone attacks.
Earlier Friday, Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched toward Khamis Mushayt in Asir, according to Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen.
Al-Maliki said coalition forces intercepted and destroyed one ballistic missile targeting the city at about 3 a.m., shortly after intercepting two others aimed at the same area. Four Houthi drones were also reportedly intercepted.
Separately, Saudi Civil Defense said a Houthi projectile struck a school in Najran on Friday, causing material damage but no casualties.
The incidents came amid an escalation in Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi cities and energy infrastructure.
The UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan on Thursday condemned an attack on Madinah, while the Gulf Cooperation Council reaffirmed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia and said the security of the Kingdom and its holy sites was integral to the collective security of GCC member states.
Yemeni forces continue strikes against Houthis
Meanwhile, Yemen’s armed forces on Saturday said they had carried out 71 precision strikes targeting Houthi gatherings, combat mobilizations, and reinforcements in Taiz governorate, where heavy fighting had been going on in the past weeks.
In a post on the X platform, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman, said the strikes were carried out in the villages of Al-Aqrud, Sam', Al-Ahkom, Al-Akbush, Jabal Rasen, Jabal Jardad, Bani Omar, Bani Bakari, Al-Ka'awush, and Al-Athawr in Taiz.
"The operations resulted in the destruction of several enemy transport and support vehicles, the neutralization of militia elements, and the deprivation of their formations of the ability to continue fighting," the spokesman said.
On Friday, Al-Nuzaili said in a statement that the Yemeni Armed Forces unleashed a barrage of strikes against the Houthis across several fronts, including areas south of Haradh, the coast, Kattaf, Marib, Al-Bayda, Lahj, Sanaa and Saada.
According to the statement, the operations killed or wounded 1,540 Houthi personnel, most of them on the Taiz fronts, and destroyed or disabled 216 military vehicles and other military capabilities.
The operations also disrupted Houthi efforts to make a breakthrough on the Taiz fronts, the statement said.
The Yemeni armed forces said they would continue operations aimed at restoring state authority and protecting Yemen’s security and sovereignty.
The Houthis control Yemen’s most populous areas and much of the country’s north. They have intensified missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, including strikes against cities and energy infrastructure, while also targeting Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea.
The escalation has heightened concerns over the security of Saudi population centers and energy infrastructure and added pressure to global oil supplies amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. It has also increased risks to the Red Sea route for Gulf energy exports as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely disrupted.