Cars drive past the gates of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on September 19, 2026. (AFP Photo)
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis has that the Iran-backed group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn, after a fire broke out near the Saudi capital’s international airport.
Firefighters extinguished a blaze on a fuel tank with the logo of Saudi oil giant Aramco at a fuel depot near Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, an AFP journalist saw. Footage shared online and verified by AFP showed a column of black smoke above airport buildings.
In recent weeks, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement has staged a lightning offensive, seizing swathes of territory in one of the world’s poorest countries, leaving the internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, scrambling to respond.
Saudi Arabia’s air force “successfully intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist militia towards the city of Riyadh at dawn on Sept. 19,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X.
He said the Houthis also tried to target “civilians and civilian infrastructure in Bisha, Taif, Farasan, and Yanbu,” adding that the attacks “were thwarted by the Gulf monarchy’s air defenses.”
Saudi Arabia has responded with scores of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas but failed to stop the advance.
The Houthis said it had responded to recent Saudi attacks by carrying out “two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” Houthi military spokesman
Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram.
“The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”
Saudi authorities had earlier issued an overnight air raid alert.
Hours after the early morning alert, residents told AFP on condition of anonymity that they heard what sounded like a round of explosions echoing through parts of the Saudi capital.
Tracking website FlightRadar24 reported “major problems” at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, listing it for a while under its maximum disruption index, before normal traffic began to resume.
The U.S. State Department and its embassies around the region issued a security alert on Sept. 19, warning of conflict that “has the potential to escalate rapidly”.
“Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including civilian airports,” it said.
