Loud explosions were heard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, late Monday amid a major escalation in fighting between the Saudi-backed coalition and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Gatekeepers News reports that AFP reporters and residents heard a series of blasts earlier in the day before further explosions were reported late Monday.
The Houthis claimed they had targeted Riyadh’s international airport, an Aramco refinery and several sites in the southern part of Saudi Arabia.
According to the group, the attacks involved drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and also targeted military installations and smaller airports in the kingdom’s south.
The latest attacks came days after Gulf states accused the Houthis of carrying out a drone strike on a power distribution station in Saudi Arabia that supplies electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
The strikes are the latest escalation in hostilities between the two sides since Yemen was plunged back into civil war in July following years of relative calm.
The Houthis said Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, last Thursday, marking the first such attack by Riyadh since fighting resumed between the two sides in July.
The conflict pits the Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of north-western Yemen, against the country’s internationally recognised government, which is supported by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
