In the early morning of September 19 (local time), Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh was shaken by large explosions after Houthi forces in Yemen launched a large-scale attack with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki confirmed that Saudi Arabia's air defense system successfully intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh, while preventing attacks targeting civilian targets in Bisha, Taif, Farasan and the Yanbu energy center on the Red Sea coast.
The attack prompted Saudi Arabian authorities to issue an emergency airborne threat warning in the early hours, requiring residents of the capital to stay indoors.
In the area near King Khalid International Airport in northeastern Riyadh, a large fire broke out at a fuel tank belonging to Aramco Oil and Gas Group before firefighters successfully controlled it. According to aviation monitoring site FlightRadar24, the incident caused many flights to be seriously disrupted before operations gradually recovered.
The Houthi forces declared that the attack hit sensitive targets in Riyadh and the Aramco facility in Yanbu in retaliation for the coalition's fierce airstrikes on Yemen.
The incident marks the first time the capital Riyadh has been directly threatened since the conflict broke out again in mid-July, threatening to push the region into a dangerous spiral of confrontation amid continued deadlock in peace negotiation efforts.
