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Saudis Intercept Ballistic Missile Over Capital Riyadh

Just hours after the previously reported unexpected, and shocking resignation of Lebanon's pro-Saudi prime minister Saad al-Hariri, Saudi defense forces said they had intercepted a ballistic missile over the capital Riyadh, which was fired from Yemen. According to Yemen's Houthi-controlled Defense Ministry, the Yemeni Air Force targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Saturday with a ballistic missile.

Al-Arabiya reported that the missile was intercepted over north-east Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense said in a statement, even as Yemen's Defense Ministry said the missile attack "shook the Saudi capital" and the operation was successful.

The Riyadh-based newspaper Al Riyadh released a video on its Twitter account showing the interception of a missile.

Some analysts have speculated that the ballistic missile could be Iran's response to Hariri's resignation.

Al Jazeera reported that Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they launched the Yemeni-made, long-range ballistic missile Burqan 2-H (with a range of 500 kilometers) from the Saudi-Yemeni border before being intercepted.

Earlier on Saturday, there were reports of a blast at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, with some twitter users noting that pieces of a missile crashed onto the tarmac.

Photos, allegedly pieces of the intercepted missile, have also emerged on the web.

Houthis are Shi'ite militants that have been involved in the Yemeni civil war that started when the Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign in the country in 2015. They have been fighting against the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Source
Politics
War
Yemen