Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles fired towards the southern city of Najran on Friday, the Saudi-led coalition said, in the latest cross-border attack on the kingdom as the war with Iran widens across the region.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said in a statement posted on X that the two missiles were intercepted and destroyed over Najran, and that debris fell after the interception. The damage was being assessed, he said, without reporting any casualties. Saudi Civil Defense had earlier issued early-warning alerts across Najran Province as the missiles approached.
In a separate announcement, the coalition said its air defences had also intercepted and destroyed a drone in the Makkah region, home to Islam's holiest city. It was the second drone reported over the Makkah area in four days, after another was destroyed there on Tuesday.
The attacks came a day after the coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at the Madinah region and a drone over the kingdom's Eastern Province on Thursday. The Houthis denied targeting Madinah, with their military spokesman Yahya Saree insisting that the group's operations were directed only at Saudi oil installations and military bases.
The attempt on Madinah drew swift condemnation across the Gulf. Qatar's Foreign Ministry called it a “blatant provocation of Muslims, a reckless disregard for civilian lives”, a violation of Saudi sovereignty and a breach of international law. Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan issued similar statements, and Bahrain urged the United Nations Security Council to take firm measures to stop repeated attacks on holy sites and civilian targets.
As the attacks mounted, Reuters reported that Syria has sent military personnel to Saudi Arabia to provide advice and training as the kingdom faces the Houthi campaign, citing two Syrian military sources and a senior United States official. The deployment marks a new turn in the regional alignment taking shape around the war, with Damascus now openly assisting Riyadh's defences.
Inside Yemen, the fighting also intensified on Friday. The Yemeni army said its forces, backed by the Popular Resistance, recaptured several areas in the south-western province of Taiz, including the villages of Al-Nidani and Shaab Al-Sarari and large parts of the Sanamat and Ribat Al-Qarn areas, after fierce clashes with the Houthis.
Yemen's Defence Ministry said the Houthis fired a ballistic missile at a crowded market in the Al-Wazi'iyah district of Taiz on the same day, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, without giving an exact casualty figure. Government forces said they were consolidating positions in the recaptured areas and clearing mines left behind.
The Houthis have launched repeated missile and drone attacks on Saudi territory since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in late February, a conflict that has now run for eight months and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. In recent weeks the group has claimed or been blamed for strikes aimed at Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, Dammam and Jizan, while the coalition has answered with strikes on Houthi resources in Hodeidah and Dhamar.
Attacks near Makkah and Madinah carry particular weight because of the two cities' status in Islam, and the Houthis have consistently denied targeting the holy cities since the start of their campaign. The coalition, however, says its air defences have repeatedly intercepted missiles and drones in the vicinity of both cities, and civil defence warnings have become a regular feature of life in the border provinces.
What happens next is likely to turn on whether the Houthis keep up the pace of attacks on Saudi cities, whether the Syrian advisers help stiffen the kingdom's defences, and whether the diplomatic track makes progress. Qatari mediators are pressing Washington and Tehran to accept a deal to end the wider war, and the United States Central Command has said it will issue an announcement on Iran later on Saturday.
