Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia Again: What Was Shot Down?

Saudi air defences have intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards the capital Riyadh by Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, widely known as the Houthis, in the early hours of November 15, with three drones brought down over the oil-rich Eastern Province in separate interceptions the same morning. Major General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, announced the interceptions in a series of statements, stating: “Air defences intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi terrorist militia toward Riyadh.” No damage or casualties were reported, and the coalition gave no details of the drones’ type or where they were launched from. The salvo was the fourth attack on the capital in six days, and highlights how the Houthis have settled into a near daily rhythm of strikes intended to show that Riyadh cannot be fully shielded however many interceptors it fires.

The attack follows a dense run of strikes on the capital, with Saudi air defences having destroyed three cruise missiles aimed at Riyadh on November 11, a day after intercepting a ballistic and a cruise missile over the city. The coalition also reported two drones destroyed over Riyadh and the southern regions on November 14. On November 8 the Saudi Energy Ministry reported minor damage to an Aramco administrative building in the King Abdullah Financial District following an attempted attack. Ansarullah has also repeatedly targeted King Khalid International Airport, the East-West pipeline and oil installations across the east and south of the kingdom. Saudi authorities put the toll from Houthi missile and drone attacks since September 23 at 26 dead, 23 of them in strikes on airports, a figure which demonstrates that civil aviation rather than the oil sector has borne the human cost of the campaign.

The strikes on Saudi territory are being launched alongside a significantly intensified ground war in Yemen, where Ansarullah has been mobilizing for a push on Taiz and Aden after taking much of the Red Sea coast and the port of Mokha in September. Government forces have answered with the offensive they call Operation Dawn of Yemen, and army spokesman Staff Colonel Majed al-Nuzaili has claimed gains in the al-Hazm and Madghal districts of al-Jawf amid heavy fighting around Marib. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree for his part claimed that the coalition carried out 72 air strikes in Saada, Taiz, Lahij and al-Jawf over a single 24 hour period. The movement had earlier claimed ballistic missile strikes on Saudi forces at Al-Tuwal in Jazan on November 13, which Riyadh has not confirmed.

Saudi Arabia’s defence of its capital rests primarily on MIM-104 Patriot batteries firing PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors, which have been the kingdom’s main shield against ballistic missiles from Yemen since 2015, supplemented since mid-2025 by the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces commissioned their first THAAD battery on July 2, 2025, under a $15 billion package approved by the U.S. State Department in October 2017 that covers 44 launchers and 360 interceptors for seven batteries. Saudi crews for the system have been trained by the U.S. Army at Fort Bliss in Texas. The coalition has not said which systems engaged the missiles on November 15 or how many interceptors were fired, and Ansarullah had made no claim for the launches by the morning of November 15.