Saudi Arabia Intercepts Missiles Over Riyadh as Houthi Strikes Send Schools Online

Saudi Arabia's air defences intercepted and destroyed several missiles fired toward Riyadh and southern parts of the kingdom, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said. The coalition also reported downing a drone over the oil-rich Eastern Province. Fighting between the kingdom and the group, officially known as Ansar Allah, has been a daily affair for weeks and is now bleeding into ordinary life.

Riyadh parents got a message Monday telling them classes would move online starting Tuesday, AFP reported. It gave no end date. For a third straight day Tuesday, residents' phones lit up with warnings to take shelter over an unspecified aerial threat, lifted only minutes later. Many businesses are still running on remote work.

The capital's airport was hit by a deadly attack on 11 October, which grounded flights. Service has resumed on a limited basis since, but the Houthis have warned that most of Saudi airspace should be treated as not safe.

The Houthis say the strikes are payback. Saudi bombing of Sanaa over the weekend killed at least 44 people, including 21 children, the group said on its television channel Monday. The Sanaa-based health ministry, speaking on pro-Houthi Almasirah TV, said the toll in the Alshariyah area of Bani Hushaysh, east of the capital, reached 44 dead and 40 wounded, with 10 women among the killed. Rescue teams were still hunting for the missing.

Saudi attacks inside Yemen have deepened a humanitarian crisis there, with hundreds of thousands forcibly displaced, as the missile exchanges with the kingdom show no sign of slowing.