Saudi Arabia says it intercepted ‘hostile target’ over capital

Saudi Arabia intercepted a “hostile target” over Riyadh on Saturday, said state media in the kingdom which has come under repeated attack from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels since 2015.

An explosion was heard in the Saudi capital at around 11:00 a.m. local time, AFP correspondents reported.

“I heard a loud sound and thought that something had fallen from the sky,” said one resident, who lives in the Al-Sulaimaniyah district of Riyadh. “The whole house was shaking.”

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthis, said it had “intercepted and destroyed a hostile air target going towards Riyadh,” without elaborating, according to state-run Al Ekhbariya television station.

Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport said there were a number of flight delays, but it was not immediately clear if they were linked to Saturday’s incident.

Saudi Arabia has been repeatedly targeted by the Houthis since its intervention in the Yemen war in 2015.

It is rare, however, for drones and missiles launched by the Houthis to reach the kingdom’s capital — about 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the Yemeni border.