Yemen Conflict: Coalition Reports Strike on Missile Storage Tunnels

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on Monday that forces under his command destroyed four ballistic missile launchers and five tunnels used by the Houthis to store missiles. He said in a post on X that the operation also struck a missile depot, and that it "focused on cutting off Houthi militia supply lines between areas under their control". The same operation targeted fortifications, gatherings of Houthi members, and their military equipment along front lines inside Yemen.

The strikes follow weeks of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and other infrastructure. A Houthi attack on Riyadh's King Khalid international airport earlier this month killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade. The airport closed temporarily, which postponed Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference until 2027 and disrupted travel plans for thousands of passengers. The airport reopened and flights resumed on Sunday, with the Houthis warning travellers to avoid the facility and calling it a "military target".

Al-Maliki said Saudi air defences "intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh". Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Monday that the group attacked the airport "with a ballistic missile, striking the target with precision", and that Houthi forces had struck oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia with drones. Saree also claimed ballistic missile attacks on forces and weapons depots in Yemen, targeting positions in the Salah al-Din area of Aden governorate and the al-Wahat area of Lahij governorate.

On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said air defences intercepted at least 10 ballistic missiles. Saudi Arabia's civil defence agency reported two people injured in the south by falling debris, along with damage to several buildings and vehicles. Images released by the kingdom's official press agency showed a building with part of its upper facade destroyed and metal rods exposed, and another showing large windows shattered with glass across the pavement and part of the road.

As operations resumed at Riyadh airport, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed an air defence system. Mitsotakis "responded favourably to the kingdom's request to keep the Patriot system in Saudi Arabia, given the current challenging circumstances", his office said, referring to a battery of the US-made system that Greece deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2021 to protect energy infrastructure in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast.

Yemen's war reignited this summer after the Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, which intervened in 2015 to lead a coalition backing the government ousted from Sanaa by the Houthis in 2014. A 2022 truce that had halted most fighting collapsed last month as the Houthis launched an offensive, seizing much of Yemen's Red Sea coast from government forces and attacking Saudi energy facilities and airports. Yemen's government forces this month began the "Operation Yemen Dawn" counteroffensive to recapture territory held by the Houthis.