SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Missiles, drones from Yemen 'intercepted' over Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, April 11 (AFP) Apr 11, 2018
Saudi Arabia's air defences on Wednesday "intercepted" a ballistic missile fired from rebel-held Yemen at Riyadh, a military spokesman said, adding two others were shot down in southern Saudi Arabia.

The announcement came after an AFP journalist witnessed explosions and heard three blasts over the capital, which has previously been targeted by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.

"An Iranian ballistic missile launched from Sadaa towards Riyadh was successfully intercepted by Saudi Air Defence earlier today," Colonel Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthis, said.

He said Saudi forces also intercepted two missiles in the southern Jizan and Najran provinces close to the border with Yemen.

The attacks were claimed by the rebels via their news outlet Al-Masirah.

"The missile force carried out a large-scale ballistic missile attack on various parts of Saudi Arabia," Al-Masirah said.

As the announcement on the missile interceptions emerged, Malki also said in a separate statement that Saudi air defences had shot down two unmanned Yemeni drones Wednesday in southern Saudi Arabia.

One of the drones was targeting the Abha international airport in Asir province, which led to a temporary suspension of air traffic, and a second was approaching a "civilian object" in Jizan province, he said.

The Huthis claimed attacks on Abha airport and Saudi Aramco, located in Jizan, via Al-Masirah, publishing an infographic of the "Qasef 1" drone.

Aramco in a statement Wednesday said, "Saudi Aramco operations and facilities, including our facilities in Jizan, are operating normally and safely".


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Russian space chief to meet NASA head for first time in eight years
BlackSky to supply satellite imagery and analytics for Latin American security operations
Cascade raises 59M to develop full stack satellite communications platform

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Palantir, the AI giant that preaches US dominance
China and US wrap first day of trade talks
'Food on table' outweighs health risks for Philippine e-waste dismantlers

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
North Korea warns US against pushing it to give up nukes
Iran vows stronger response if attacked again by US, Israel
Ukraine says Russian attacks targeted western city, home to airfield

24/7 News Coverage
BAE Systems completes delivery of NOAA and NASA space weather satellites for fall launch
Building blocks of life found in distant star system suggest origins in interstellar space
Deep-sea fish confirmed as a significant source of ocean carbonate



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.