Saudi-Led Coalition Says It Intercepted Six Missiles Fired at Two Cities

A Saudi-led military coalition said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed six ballistic missiles Thursday that had been aimed at the Red Sea port city of Yanbu and the southwestern city of Taif, as fighting between the kingdom and Yemen’s Houthi movement continued to widen.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthis, said air defense units had foiled the attempt to strike the two cities and that further “escalations and violations” by the group would be met firmly. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the interceptions.

The coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, has been fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis on and off since 2015, when it intervened after the group seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and forced the government into exile.

Al-Malki’s statement followed emergency alerts issued earlier by Saudi civil defense authorities covering several cities, including Mecca, Jeddah, Yanbu, Tabuk and Taif; the authorities later said the danger had passed. The Associated Press said it could not independently verify the coalition’s account of the interceptions.

Houthi statement points elsewhere

The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the strikes on Taif and Yanbu. The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said separately that Houthi forces had launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at military sites in Jazan province, near the Yemeni border, targeting what he described as command centers, weapons depots and missile launch sites. Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm that account. It was not clear whether the Jazan claim and the reported strikes on Taif and Yanbu referred to the same barrage or separate incidents.

Yanbu, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, has taken on added significance as an oil export route since Iran curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz; the port has also become a focus of Houthi threats since the group declared its own blockade of Saudi Red Sea ports earlier this year.

Background

The exchange is part of an escalation that has built through 2026 alongside Yemen’s own renewed civil conflict. Houthi forces have repeatedly struck Saudi territory in recent months, including a September 8 attack that Saudi officials said wounded dozens of people and damaged civilian sites in the southern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, and a July attack on Aramco facilities in Jazan and Yanbu that Greek air defense units stationed in the kingdom helped intercept. The coalition has also carried out strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen.

Underlying the exchanges is Yemen’s fragmented civil war, which resumed in intensity after a 2022 truce lapsed. The Houthis, who control Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, have been battling government forces for territory in the country’s southwest, including areas near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The wider regional backdrop includes the broader confrontation between Iran and its allies on one side and the United States, Israel and Gulf states including Saudi Arabia on the other.

What follows

Neither the scale of Thursday’s barrage nor any resulting damage has been independently confirmed beyond the coalition’s statement. It also remains unclear whether the Houthis will issue a claim specific to the reported strikes on Taif and Yanbu, as they have done after other recent incidents. Saudi authorities did not say whether further alerts were expected in the affected provinces.

Sources

Reporting on the interception is drawn primarily from wire and international coverage; the Houthi claim regarding Jazan and background on the wider conflict are drawn from regional and international outlets covering the escalation.

Wire services and international press

• The Associated Press, “Ballistic missiles targeting Yanbu and Taif intercepted in Saudi Arabia” (syndicated via Action News Jax, KIRO 7, WHIO)
• The Washington Post, “Saudi-led coalition says 6 ballistic missiles are intercepted and blames Houthi rebels.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/09/24/yemen-saudi-arabia-houthis-missiles/49285208-b815-11f1-94cb-d3d8f22a8c8b_story.html
• Al-Monitor, “Saudi Arabia thwarts Houthi ballistic missiles, Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition says.” https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/09/saudi-arabia-thwarts-houthi-ballistic-missiles-yemens-saudi-led-coalition-says
• The Jerusalem Post, “Yemen’s Houthis claim to have launched missiles, drones at Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu.” https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-909637

Local and regional press

• Saudi Gazette, “Saudi Forces intercept 6 Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Taif and Yanbu.” https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/664835/saudi-arabia/saudi-forces-intercept-6-houthi-ballistic-missiles-targeting-taif-and-yanbu
• Arab Times, “Saudi-led coalition intercepts six Houthi ballistic missiles targeting Taif, Yanbu.” https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/saudi-led-coalition-intercepts-six-houthi-ballistic-missiles-targeting-taif-yanbu/
• The National, “Iran war latest: Saudi Arabia intercepts six ballistic missiles launched by Houthis.” https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/09/24/live-us-iran-war-saudi-intercepts-houthi-missiles-taif-yanbu/

Background and prior incidents

• Al Jazeera, “Houthi projectile wounds two, damages mosque in Jazan region, Saudi says” (Sept. 13, 2026). https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/13/houthi-projectile-wounds-two-damages-mosque-in-jazan-region-saudi-says
• ABC News (Australia), “Houthis claim missile attacks on Saudi Arabia after announcing Red Sea blockade” (July 25, 2026). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-25/houthis-claim-missile-strike-on-saudi-arabia/106958410
• Wikipedia, “2026 in Saudi Arabia” (timeline reference for prior incidents)

Editor’s note on sourcing The Houthi group’s own casualty and damage claims for the September 8 Jazan-area attack are included because they were corroborated by Saudi officials’ account of wounded and damaged sites; the group’s specific claim regarding Thursday’s Jazan strikes has not been independently confirmed by Saudi authorities and is presented here as attributed, not established. No independent confirmation of casualties or physical damage from Thursday’s interceptions over Taif and Yanbu was available at time of writing.