Saudi air defences intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile over the Madinah region on Thursday, marking the second interception of the day as the Houthi missile and drone campaign against the kingdom keeps widening.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki confirmed the interception in a statement carried by Saudi state media. "Interception and destruction of a cruise missile in the Medina region," al-Maliki said.
The coalition did not identify where the missile came from or what it was aimed at, and gave no word of casualties or damage on the ground.
Earlier Thursday, al-Maliki said a drone had been intercepted and destroyed over the Eastern Province — the kingdom's oil heartland — likewise with no origin disclosed.
The Madinah region in western Saudi Arabia hosts Medina, Islam's second-holiest city. A cruise missile reaching that airspace shows how far the Houthi campaign now ranges: in recent days its missiles and drones have struck airports and energy sites from Riyadh to Dhahran.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea has vowed that the group's attacks "deep inside Saudi Arabia" will continue in the coming days, targeting airports and oil facilities.
Wednesday's interception came at a price in the capital: the coalition brought down a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh, and falling debris injured a resident.
A day earlier, an Aramco administrative building in Dhahran was targeted and caught a limited fire. The coalition answered with strikes on Houthi fuel facilities in Sanaa and Hodeidah.
The toll has been mounting for weeks. Between October 5 and 11, ten attacks targeted five Saudi airports, killing 20 people and injuring hundreds.
The disruption is compounding. Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport remains closed until at least October 17, and aviation data compiled by Cirium counted 3,129 of 7,705 scheduled departures from Saudi airports cancelled or not operating between October 8 and 14.
Saudi Arabia has led the coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government since 2015. The current escalation has run since July, after a 2022 truce collapsed — and with the Houthis promising more strikes deep inside the kingdom, the kingdom's defences are being tested almost daily by an enemy that shows no sign of stopping.
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