The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it intercepted two missiles fired toward Riyadh and a third aimed at southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Nov. 10, Al Jazeera reported. The announcement came hours after Saudi officials reported a new attack on the kingdom’s East-West oil pipeline.
What we know
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesman, said a ballistic missile and a cruise missile were destroyed over Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported. A second ballistic missile was downed over the south, he said. Al-Maliki blamed the Iran-backed Houthis for the attacks.
The coalition also said a drone was intercepted and destroyed in the Eastern Region, Arab News reported.
Multiple explosions were heard in Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported, citing the AFP news agency. Residents received text-message alerts telling them to take shelter from an “aerial threat.” The civil defense agency later said the danger had passed.
Saudi civil defense authorities also issued warnings for Abha and Khamis Mushait and lifted them shortly afterward, Arab News reported. The Houthis made no immediate comment, Al Jazeera reported.
The pipeline attack
Unverified claim: A Saudi Energy Ministry official said an attack on the East-West pipeline in the Medina region on Monday, Nov. 9, caused a “limited fire” that was extinguished, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The official said “pipeline operations were unaffected” and that no one was hurt, according to Al Jazeera.
The report did not identify who carried out the attack, Al Jazeera said.
The 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) pipeline runs across the Arabian Peninsula to the Red Sea. It has become essential for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reported. Riyadh has rerouted about 4 million barrels a day through it to Yanbu, equal to about 4% of global supply, the outlet said.
The line was shut for several days in September after drone attacks that Saudi Arabia said were launched from Iraq, Al Jazeera reported.
Claims of strikes in Yemen
Unverified claim: The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported coalition air strikes on Sanaa. Saba said they hit the al-Mufazir gas facility north of the capital and a building of the state oil company in the south of the city, according to Al Jazeera. The coalition did not immediately confirm those strikes.
Unverified claim: The coalition said on Monday it destroyed three Houthi facilities used to make ballistic missile components, Arab News reported. Al-Maliki named a component assembly factory, a chemical plant for solid propellant and an electronics facility.
The coalition said the operation answered repeated Houthi attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Arab News reported. It said efforts to dismantle the group’s missile network would continue.
What comes next
The exchanges are part of fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which Riyadh backs, Al Jazeera reported. The coalition has supported a government offensive with air strikes. The Houthis have repeatedly struck Saudi refineries and storage sites with drones and missiles.
On Sunday, the Houthis said they attacked Riyadh’s business district. Saudi officials said falling debris from an “attempted attack” caused minor damage to the Aramco Tower, Al Jazeera reported.
Oil, shipping and strike data are on the Iran war tracker, and more reporting is on the war news page.
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Saudi Arabia downs missiles fired at Riyadh after Houthi attack on pipeline
- Al Jazeera: Saudi Arabia reports new attack on key East-West pipeline
- Arab News: Houthi missiles, drone intercepted as coalition says it destroyed militia’s ballistic missile factories
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