Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen say they carried out drone and ballistic missile attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh, as well as energy sites on the country’s Red Sea coast.
Saudi authorities said they intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired at Riyadh on Saturday, without confirming any further strikes or causalities.
Earlier, a column of black smoke was seen rising from fuel tanks near the Saudi capital’s international airport, where flights were disrupted temporarily on Saturday.
Air raid alerts had sounded in the capital for the first time since the Iran-backed Houthis increased their attacks on Saudi Arabia in July.
The US state department urged Americans in the Middle East to “exercise vigilance and be prepared for potential flight cancellations and other travel disruptions”.
“Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports. This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly,” it said in a statement.
It added that Americans “should seriously reconsider travel to and through the region”.
Air defences also stopped “hostile attempts to target civilians” in the cities of Bish, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu, an official spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement.
In a statement posted online, Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea said a “large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones” had been used to attack “sensitive sites” in Riyadh and Aramco state oil and gas company facilities in Yanbu on the coast.
He added that the attacks were “in response to the Saudi enemy’s criminal attempts” to target the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is currently controlled by the Houthis.
Earlier, Sarea had accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out 300 strikes across Yemen during the past week.
The Houthis are locked in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.
They have attacked targets inside Saudi Arabia on several occasions in recent months, and said this week that they were responsible for downing a Saudi fighter jet over Yemen.
According to an unconfirmed report from AFP news agency, quoting military sources on both sides of Yemen’s civil war, fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces claimed 48 lives on Saturday.
The Houthis said 31 of their fighters had been killed while government sources said their side had lost 17 soldiers, according to the news agency.
On Friday, the International Organization for Migration, a UN body, reported that the number of people displaced as a result of recent fighting had passed 104,796, external.
