Saudi arabia: Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the city of Riyadh.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki, the official spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Defense, stated that “the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces succeeded, at dawn on Saturday, in intercepting and destroying a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the city of Riyadh.”

Al-Maliki explained in a statement that “the Houthi escalation and their continued attempts to target civilians and civilian objects in the capital, Riyadh-a city inhabited by more than eight million citizens and residents-confirm their intransigence and persistence in deliberately and systematically targeting civilians and civilian objects, in an act of hostile behavior.”

Al-Maliki added that “the Houthis attempted to target civilians and civilian objects in the cities of Baish, Taif, Farasan, and Yanbu, but these attempts were thwarted by air defenses.” He affirmed “the Coalition Command’s inherent right to take appropriate measures-in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules-to deter what he described as Houthi behavior.”

The Houthi group in Yemen announced on Saturday evening that it had attacked targets in Riyadh and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.