Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday, 26 September 2026, that it had intercepted two drones which it said the Houthis launched towards the capital, Riyadh, in the latest episode of continuing military escalation between the kingdom and the Yemeni group in recent days. The announcement followed a series of attacks and attempted strikes which Saudi authorities said their air defences had thwarted in several parts of the kingdom, using ballistic missiles and drones.
Interception of ballistic missiles heading towards Taif and Yanbu
The Houthis also announced during the same period that they had carried out missile and drone operations against sites inside Saudi Arabia. The coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government had announced on 24 September that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards the cities of Taif and Yanbu.
The coalition’s spokesman, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said Saudi air defences had intercepted and destroyed the missiles. On the same day, the Houthis said they had carried out missile and drone attacks on what they described as a sensitive target in Riyadh, as well as facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Yanbu. The Houthis provided no evidence confirming the results of the attacks they announced.
Patriot system intercepts two targets near Yanbu
Greek security sources said a Patriot system operated by Greek military personnel in Saudi Arabia had intercepted a ballistic missile and a drone near Yanbu. The sources said the system had launched two interceptor missiles and brought down both targets, without identifying their source. This followed a Saudi announcement on 19 September that it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile which Riyadh said the Houthis had launched towards the capital early that morning.
The coalition said at the time that air-defence systems had also thwarted attempts to target the cities of Bish, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu. In a statement on the 19 September attack, al-Maliki said continued attempts to target Riyadh, home to more than eight million citizens and residents, constituted an attack on civilians and civilian objects.
He added that the coalition command reserved the right to take measures to deter the attacks, in line with international humanitarian law and its customary rules. On 15 September, Saudi Arabia announced that it had intercepted a drone before it entered the restricted airspace over Mecca. The coalition accused the Houthis of launching it, while the group denied responsibility for the incident and rejected the Saudi accusations.
The interception of the two drones heading towards Riyadh once again places the Saudi capital within the scope of unmanned-aircraft attacks, a week after the announcement that a ballistic missile heading towards it had been intercepted, amid continuing missile and drone launches targeting Saudi cities and facilities.
