Saudi intercepts missile over Riyadh

Saudi officials intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the northeast of Riyadh on Saturday night, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The missile was reportedly fired from Yemen and was destroyed near the King Khaled international airport.

No casualties were reported and all flights at the airport were operating as usual.

Colonel Turki Al Maliki, spokesman of the Saudi-led Coalition in Yemen, said that the missile was fired in a “random and absurd manner”, and targeted residential areas.

It was intercepted by the Patriot missile system, he claimed.

“This act of aggression by the Houthi armed group proves the involvement of a terrorist sponsoring country of the region in backing the Houthis with advanced capabilities, which is a stark violation of resolution 2216,” he said.

“Targeting civilian areas is a violation of international humanitarian law,” he added.

The Saudi-led Operation Restoring Hope began conducting air strikes against Houthi rebels in March 2015 in a bid to restore Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government in the country.