The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Thursday that it had shot down six ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia, in what appeared to be one of the largest cross-border attacks by the group since its conflict with Saudi Arabia spiraled back into war.
The missiles were aimed at the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said on social media. “Escalations and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” he added, without specifying where the missiles were intercepted.
The Saudi authorities issued alerts on Thursday warning of potential attacks in cities across Saudi Arabia, including Mecca, home to the holiest sites in Islam, before announcing that the danger had passed.
The Houthis did not immediately comment on the Saudi claims.
The Houthis’ ability to target Taif and Yanbu, cities that are far from the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia, underscores how the militia’s arsenal and its ambitions have grown since the war between the two sides flared up in recent weeks.
The barrage of missiles was launched a day after Saudi Arabia began celebrations for its National Day, a holiday marked by public gatherings and events across the country.
For more than a decade, Yemen’s civil war has pitted the Houthis, a Shiite Muslim group that casts itself as an anti-imperialist movement trying to liberate the country, against the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia. A fragile truce was agreed in 2022 and the fighting had mostly abated. But the conflict reignited this year in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, adding to broader Middle East tensions that have disrupted the global economy.
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