Saudi Arabia has vowed to remain strong as the coalition it leads against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels announced the interception of missiles fired at Riyadh and the south of the kingdom on Monday.
“We strongly condemn the Houthi terrorist attacks targeting civilians and civilian facilities in the kingdom," Minister of Media Salman Al Dosary said.
At a government media conference in Riyadh, he praised security forces and the military, saying the kingdom would "remain strong and united" behind its leadership and continue its development efforts despite the attacks.
Early on Tuesday, the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Khamis Mushait in the south-west of the kingdom. Coalition spokesman Col Turki Al Malki announced the interception in a post on X.
The statement did not say where the missiles were launched from or whether the incident caused any casualties or damage. The Houthis had claimed a "direct hit" in a ballistic missile attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Monday night.
The Iran-backed group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, repeated its warning "to all international airlines, experts, employees, workers and passengers from all countries of the world against flights to Saudi airports, as they are unsafe, with the exception of the airports and airspace of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah".
He also claimed a drone launched at the Khamis Mushait airbase resulted in a "direct hit".
Saudi authorities extended the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport until midnight on October 17 after an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and injured more than 300. An attack on Sunday killed one person.
Inside Yemen
Meanwhile, pro-government forces and the Houthis are battling for control of the key city of Taiz. Rights groups have raised the alarm on the humanitarian situation inside the city, where people are cut off from food, water, medical and energy supplies amid what some organisations described as a "siege".
"Within five days, the city lost its main supply route for goods and commodities: Taiz–Al-Turbah–Lahj–Aden, following the Houthi group’s takeover of areas west and south of Taiz," the Studies and Economic Media Centre in Yemen said in a report this week. The government also closed the eastern route used by civilians for security reasons, it added.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 216,000 people have been displaced since the escalations in Yemen began in August. At least 172,000 of them are from Taiz.
The UN said it was providing assistance to those in need but that reaching them was proving difficult, especially with key roads closed. That has disrupted "civilian movement, commercial supplies and humanitarian access", the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a briefing on Monday.
At least 54 civilians have been killed, half of them children, the agency said. "A further 171 civilians have been injured, including 107 women and children," it added.
