Photos show charred wreckage of drone after missile shot down over Riyadh

Saudi-led coalition in Yemen blamed Houthi rebel group for the thwarted attack

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  The remains of Houthi drones intercepted by the Saudi Arabian Air Force. All photos: SPA

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  Saudi Arabia has led the coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.

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  More debris from Houthi drones shot down by Saudi Arabia.

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  The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition said missiles were intercepted above Riyadh.

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  Another part of a Houthi drone after the interception.

Images of the remains of an intercepted drone have been released by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

Saudi forces said they destroyed missiles above the capital Riyadh on Monday and residents reported hearing loud bangs and seeing bright lights in the sky. It is not known if the images released on Tuesday were of the drone shot down during the attack.

The coalition blamed the Houthi rebel group for the foiled attack, which it said was launched from Yemen.

The Houthis, whom the coalition is fighting in Yemen on behalf of the internationally-recognised government, said its forces had fired six armed drones at Aramco's Jeddah complex and the King Fahad airbase in Saudi's Taif region, according to a statement broadcast by the group's Massira TV channel.

A Houthi spokesman said military sites in Riyadh and the city's airport were also targeted.

In retaliation, the coalition said it had begun a “precision” bombing campaign in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Tuesday, which is held by the Houthi rebels, shortly after the attack. It urged residents not to approach areas where bombs had struck.

“We have destroyed sites in Sanaa linked to ballistic missiles and drones,” the Saudi state news agency reported.

It said it carried out an additional 26 operations against the Iran-backed group in Marib and Al Jawf over the past 24 hours, adding that 150 fighters were killed and 18 military vehicles hit.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis invaded Sanaa and ousted the internationally-recognised government in 2014.

The Houthi movement has stepped up cross-border attacks as the coalition has intensified its air strikes on the capital Sanaa and the gas-rich Marib region, which has this year become the focus of the seven-year war, and where thousands of fighters from both sides have been killed.