Saudi coalition shoots down cruise and ballistic missiles over Riyadh

Air defenses over the Saudi capital lit up Sunday. The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen said it intercepted and destroyed two cruise missiles over the Riyadh region, along with two ballistic missiles the Houthis fired toward the city, according to Breaking The News.

The shooting wasn't the day's opening act. Hours earlier, Saudi Civil Defense sounded an alarm across Riyadh amid reports of a Houthi drone strike on the capital, with alerts also raised in Najran before being lifted shortly after. No injuries or damage have been reported so far.

The night before was restless too. Sirens briefly blared in the Buqayq and Al Ahsa governorates and in Dammam city, part of a steady back-and-forth of drone and missile exchanges between Saudi forces and the Houthis. Coastal. Industrial. Nowhere near quiet.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki had already confirmed one interception earlier, saying a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Saudi Arabia's Eastern Region was taken down. He offered no further detail at the time.

Sunday also brought quieter duty elsewhere in the region: the United Arab Emirates' National Guard said it rescued all 22 crew members from a cargo ship that caught fire in the Gulf of Oman. Specialized teams reached the vessel, administered first aid and handed the survivors to authorities, all in stable condition.

While the missiles flew above Saudi Arabia, the toll below kept climbing. The Houthi-affiliated Yemeni Health Ministry said the death count from a Saudi airstrike in the al-Shariyah area of Yemen's Bani Hashish district has risen to 33.