RIYADH, October 25, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — Saudi Arabia intercepted drones and missiles targeting its capital and southern regions on Sunday as fighting with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement continued, adding pressure on a kingdom increasingly exposed to the widening conflict involving Iran.
Saudi civil defence authorities issued emergency alerts for Riyadh, Abha and Khamis Mushait before announcing minutes later that the danger had passed.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said two drones and a ballistic missile had been launched towards Riyadh, while a cruise missile was directed at Khamis Mushait. The coalition later reported intercepting 10 ballistic missiles fired towards southern Saudi Arabia.
The latest attacks came as the Houthis renewed threats against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which resumed operations at two terminals on Sunday after a deadly strike earlier this month.
The group said it had attacked the airport and Saudi oil facilities on Saturday. Saudi authorities did not directly comment on those claims.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree described the airport as a continuing “military target” and warned airlines, airport staff and travellers against using the facility.
The airport announced late Saturday that Terminal 1 would handle domestic flights and Terminal 2 international services operated by national carriers, with the new arrangements taking effect on Sunday.
Operations had been suspended on October 10 following an attack claimed by the Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, making it the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.
The renewed violence has opened an increasingly destabilising front in the wider US-Israeli offensive against Iran, putting Saudi Arabia, a US ally, under growing pressure as the regional conflict spreads.
Riyadh has intensified strikes against the Houthis since the group seized strategic territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast last month, advancing towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The narrow passage is a critical global shipping route for Gulf oil producers and lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
Control of the Bab el-Mandeb carries wider economic and security implications because disruption there could affect maritime traffic linking the Red Sea with international markets.
The renewed fighting has also shattered a United Nations-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022.
Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015, leading a coalition in support of the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, a year earlier. The latest escalation threatens to deepen a conflict that has repeatedly drawn regional powers into direct confrontation.