Cairo: New explosions have been heard in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, residents said Wednesday, as blame again quickly fell on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
The Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the rebels towards Riyadh. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis, who have repeatedly targeted airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure in the kingdom in the latest front in the Iran war.
The sight of smoke rising from some of Saudi Arabia’s most sensitive facilities has rattled the region and global markets and increased questions for President Donald Trump, who has said he is evaluating whether the U.S. should join the Saudi strikes on the Houthis.
The Riyadh residents spoke about the latest blasts on condition of anonymity for their safety. One lives in northern Riyadh, where King Khalid International Airport — targeted multiple times in the past week with deadly strikes — is located.
The Saudi civil defense reported air raid alerts in Riyadh and Kharj province southeast of the capital. Kharj is home to the state-owned Military Industries Corporation and Prince Sultan Air Base.
The Houthis have been warning in advance of attacks on both airports and oil facilities, and airlines have been suspending operations and pulling out planes. On Tuesday, a fire broke out in an administrative building at a facility operated by Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil companies, in the latest targeting of the world’s top oil exporter.
The escalation has highlighted Saudi Arabia’s struggle to intercept Houthi missiles and drones, and the kingdom’s efforts to press allies like the United States for more military support.
Meanwhile, the Saudis have been carrying out airstrikes in rebel-held areas of Yemen in support of the country’s internationally recognized government. The fighting erupted this year when the rebels blamed the Saudis for a strike on the airport in rebel-held Sanaa. That attack revived anger over a Saudi blockade of the Houthis. The rebels in turn declared their own against the kingdom.
Now the Saudis are trying to intercept daily attacks across a territory about three times the size of Texas. Experts have said trying to intercept them all is impossible.
At the same time, regional officials say that Saudi Arabia is running low on interceptors and has reached out to allies for help.
Also on Wednesday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said two people were killed in an airstrike Tuesday in the Ras Isa port area in Hodeida province. The strike hit a facility of the state oil company and wounded two others, the ministry said, and blamed Saudi Arabia. The Saudi-led coalition also attacked an oil facility in Sanaa.