Saudi military says it intercepted three drones north of Riyadh amid tensions with Houthis

Yemen’s Houthis warned Saudi Arabia against targeting Sanaa shortly after the Saudi-led coalition announced that it would conduct an operation in the city.

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on Tuesday that its forces had intercepted three drones north of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

General view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 12, 2026. (REUTERS)

“Interception and destruction of 3 drones north of Riyadh city,” Major General Turki al-Maliki, a coalition spokesperson, wrote on X, AFP reported.

Separately, the coalition’s spokesperson ordered the evacuation of a facility belonging to a Yemeni oil company in Sanaa ahead of a planned military operation in the Yemeni capital.

Yemen’s Houthis warned Saudi Arabia against targeting Sanaa shortly after the Saudi-led coalition announced that it would conduct an operation in the city.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn the Saudi enemy that any targeting of the capital, Sanaa, will be met with a tough and painful response in the enemy’s capital of Riyadh,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree wrote on X, according to AFP.

Yemen accuses Saudi Arabia of overnight strikes

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out overnight airstrikes along Yemen’s northern border with the kingdom and on its western coastline. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to the allegation.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah television channel reported on Tuesday that two airstrikes had hit the Houthi-held Red Sea island of Kamaran, while a third struck Qanawis district, about 55 kilometres (34 miles) northwest of the port city of Hodeidah, according to AP.

The channel also reported airstrikes in Al Jawf province, which borders Saudi Arabia, and blamed Riyadh for the strikes without providing further details.

The Houthis also claimed to have shot down a Saudi drone over Saada province, a rebel stronghold in northern Yemen bordering Saudi Arabia.

Fighting has escalated between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, who have been attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities since last week in a spillover from the wider regional conflagration between the US and Iran.

Turkey will stand by Saudi Arabia, says Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Tuesday that Turkey would continue to stand by Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants, the Turkish presidency said, according to Reuters.

In a statement, the presidency said Erdogan had strongly condemned the Houthi attacks and told the crown prince that he believed “this challenge will be overcome”.