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The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government said Wednesday that its air defenses intercepted and destroyed three cruise missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi group toward the Riyadh region, as fighting intensified across several Yemeni provinces.
Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the missiles were intercepted before reaching their intended targets.
The incident comes amid continued military escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, with the coalition reporting repeated interceptions of missiles and drones targeting different parts of the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces reported renewed clashes with the Houthis in Marib, Al-Jawf and Taiz provinces, while the United Nations warned that deteriorating humanitarian conditions had displaced 330,000 people since August.
The Yemeni army said late Tuesday that its forces had engaged Houthi fighters on the northern front of central Marib province, with fighting extending into areas southeast of Al-Hazm in neighboring Al-Jawf province.
According to the army, government forces responded to Houthi attacks with artillery and rocket fire, repelling several waves of assaults and inflicting personnel and equipment losses.
Government drones and artillery also targeted Houthi reinforcements and military equipment on the southern and western fronts of Marib, the army said.
Forces operating under the Third Military Region responded to Houthi fire along confrontation lines, according to a separate military statement.
In Al-Jawf, the army said its forces continued advancing into new positions and clearing recaptured areas in the eastern part of the province.
Units from the First and Third Emergency Forces divisions were working to remove mines and explosives allegedly planted by the Houthis, it added.
The army also reported 12 airstrikes against Houthi positions and military equipment in Marib and Al-Jawf.
Ten strikes targeted Houthi gatherings, positions and combat vehicles on the northern Marib and southern Al-Jawf fronts, while two others struck the Al-Alam sector in eastern Al-Jawf, destroying a tank and other military vehicles, according to the army.
The statement did not identify who carried out the airstrikes.
In southwestern Taiz province, government forces reported heavy fighting with Houthi fighters across several fronts, including Al-Shaqab, Al-Aqrud and Kahlan, according to the official Yemeni news agency SABA.
The agency said airstrikes also targeted Houthi positions and gatherings in the province, destroying military vehicles and equipment and causing casualties.
It provided no figures for those killed or injured.
Separately, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed late Tuesday that Sanaa and six Yemeni provinces had been targeted by 109 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks over the previous 24 hours.
Saree said the strikes targeted the capital, Sanaa, as well as Al-Jawf, Taiz, Amran, Saada, Marib and Lahj provinces.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned Wednesday that conditions in Taiz continued to deteriorate as fighting disrupted supply routes and placed additional pressure on essential services.
“Roads into the city from areas under the control of the Government of Yemen remain cut or closed because of the fighting, preventing the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid and commercial supplies,” OCHA said.
The agency reported that 330,000 people had been displaced across Yemen since the beginning of August.
Taiz accounted for 140,000 displaced people, more than 40% of the total during that period, according to OCHA.
Amid the escalation, Yemen's Foreign and Expatriates Minister Afrah Abdulaziz al-Zouba called on Islamic countries to designate the Houthi group a “terrorist organization.”
The appeal came during a telephone conversation with Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh, SABA reported early Wednesday.
The Yemeni government has continued its "Dawn of Yemen" military operation since Oct. 5.
Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi has said the campaign aims to restore government control over state institutions held by the Houthis and retake Sanaa.
The operation forms part of a broader military escalation that began in July, described as the most extensive since a period of relative calm following the U.N.-brokered truce that began in April 2022.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014, prompting Saudi Arabia to lead a military intervention in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.
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