Residents in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on the morning of September 19 (local time) received a warning about air dangers and were asked to stay indoors. This is the first air strike warning issued in the city since fighting in Yemen resumed in July.
According to AFP, two explosions were recorded in Riyadh. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia's civil defense agency announced the removal of the warning. The country's authorities have not announced the specific threat leading to the above move, nor have they announced the origin of the explosions.
The incident took place in the context of increasing tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi forces in Yemen, as the two sides have recently continuously made accusations related to attacks and airstrikes.
Previously, Saudi Arabia accused Houthi of targeting Mecca - a holy city of Muslims and a place that welcomes millions of pilgrims every year. Houthi denied this accusation.
The Houthi side also accused Saudi Arabia of conducting 26 airstrikes in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of airstrikes targeting areas controlled by this force to about 300 in a week. Saudi Arabia has not commented on these figures.
The conflict between Houthi and Yemeni government forces has escalated again since July. The armed group also announced the imposition of restrictive measures on Saudi Arabian ships in the Red Sea.
Houthi said that maritime activities through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait are still taking place normally, except for Saudi Arabian ships. Data from maritime tracking company Kpler shows that Saudi Arabia's export volume through this route has decreased since July.
The recurrence of fighting also affects the humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to the United Nations, more than 112,000 people have been displaced, while nearly 3,000 people cross the sea to Djibouti, in East Africa.
