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Saudi Arabia says it intercepts missile attack over capital

Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted a missile attack over its capital launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as well as bomb-laden drones targeting the southern province of Jizan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted a missile attack over its capital and bomb-laden drones targeting a southern province, the latest in a series of airborne assaults it has blamed on Yemen’s rebel Houthis.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen’s yearslong war announced the Iran-allied Houthis had launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh and three booby-trapped drones toward the province of Jizan, with a fourth toward another southwestern city and other drones being monitored. No casualties or damage were initially reported. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The attack comes amid sharply rising tensions in the Middle East, a day after a mysterious explosion struck an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. That blast renewed concerns about ship security in the strategic waterways that saw a spate of suspected Iranian attacks on oil tankers in 2019.

The state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV broadcast footage of what appeared to be explosions in the air over Riyadh. Social media users also posted videos, with some showing residents shrieking as they watched the fiery blast pierce the night sky, which appeared to be the kingdom’s Patriot missile batteries intercepting the ballistic missile.

Col. Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the Houthis were trying in “a systematic and deliberate way to target civilians.”

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a warning to Americans, calling on them to “stay alert in case of additional future attacks.” Flight-tracking websites showed a number of flights scheduled to land at Riyadh’s international airport diverted or delayed in the hour after the attack.

A civil defense spokesman, Mohammed al-Hammadi, later said scattered debris resulted in material damage to one house, though no one was hurt, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

As Yemen’s war grinds on, Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom have grown commonplace, only rarely causing damage. Earlier this month the Houthis struck an empty passenger plane at Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Abha airport with a bomb-laden drone, causing it to catch fire.

The Houthis overran Yemen’s capital and much of the country’s north in 2014, forcing the government into exile and months later prompting Saudi Arabia and its allies to launch a bombing campaign.

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Saudi Arabia says it intercepts missile attack over capital

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted a missile attack over its capital and bomb-laden drones targeting a southern province, the latest in a series of airborne assaults it has blamed on Yemen’s rebel Houthis.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen’s years-long war announced the Iran-allied rebels had launched a ballistic missile toward Riyadh and several booby-trapped drones toward the province of Jizan. No casualties or damages were initially reported. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The attack comes amid sharply rising tensions in the Middle East, a day after a mysterious explosion struck an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman, renewing concerns about ship security in the same site that saw a spate of suspected attacks on oil tankers in 2019 that the U.S. Navy blamed on Iran.

The state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV posted video of what appeared to be explosions in the air over Riyadh. Social media users also posted videos, with some showing residents shrieking as they watched the fiery blast, which appeared to be the kingdom’s Patriot missile batteries intercepting the ballistic missile.

As Yemen’s war grinds on, Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom have become increasingly common, only rarely causing damage. Riyadh has been targeted in sporadic missile attacks in that time, while the Saudi-led coalition has faced widespread international criticism for airstrikes in Yemen that have killed hundreds of civilians and hit non-military targets, including schools, hospitals and wedding parties.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh issued a warning to Americans, calling on them to “stay alert in case of additional future attacks.”

The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital and the country’s north, where the majority of the population lives, since September 2014. Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a war against them in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

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Biden’s message to Iran with missile strikes: ‘You can’t act with impunity, be careful’

His comments to reporters on Friday came a day after the US military struck a site in Syria used by two Iranian-backed militia groups in response to rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks, generating concern among lawmakers who said Biden had not asked for the necessary congressional authorization.

“Up to a handful” of militants were killed in the strikes, a US official told CNN. The site was not specifically tied to the rocket attacks, but Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he was “confident” it was used by the same Iranian-backed Shia militias targeting US and coalition forces in Iraq with rocket attacks.

The site is believed to be used as part of a weapons smuggling operation by the Iranian-backed militias, according to a US official. The site was used by Iraqi Hezbollah militias near al-Hurri village right on the Syrian-Iraqi borders inside Syria, a resident in Albu Kamal city told CNN under the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The administration has asserted that the strike was backed by Article II of the Constitution, as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the strikes took place “at President Biden’s direction” and were authorized not just to respond to the recent attacks against American and coalition forces but also to deal with “ongoing threats to those personnel.”

But some Democrats in Congress have criticized the move, questioning the administration’s legal justification in the latest fight between the executive and legislative branches over war powers.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said that the Biden administration’s congressional notification of the military strikes in Syria was “inadequate” and he was looking further into the legal justification behind the military action.

“This makes President Biden the seventh consecutive US president to order strikes in the Middle East,” said California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. “There is absolutely no justification for a president to authorize a military strike that is not in self-defense against an imminent threat without congressional authorization.”

Republicans largely praised Biden for striking against the Iranian-backed militias.

Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the US response was a “necessary deterrent” that reminds Iran and its proxies that attacks on US interests “will not be tolerated.”

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