Riyadh issues first air raid alert since renewed aggression on Yemen
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Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh issues an air raid alert amid renewed fighting against Yemen, with two explosions heard before the warning was lifted.
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Yemenis raise a banner during a rally in support of the group and to protest Saudi Arabia's accusation that the Ansar Allah targeted Islam's holiest site of Mecca, in Sanaa, Yemen, Sept. 18, 2026 (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh issued its first air raid alert since aggression resumed against neighboring Yemen, with AFP reporting explosions early Saturday.
The alert was issued shortly before 3:00 am local time, warning residents that the area was under a "hostile aerial threat" and urging them to remain indoors. AFP subsequently reported two explosions heard in the capital.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense agency lifted the alert around 30 minutes later. Saudi authorities have yet to identify the source of the reported threat or provide details on the explosions.
Footage circulated on social media showed a ballistic missile flying over the city and evading Saudi air defenses.
الصواريخ الباليستية اليمنية في سماء العاصمة السعودية الرياض 📍🚀 https://t.co/fiX6YgU9s6 pic.twitter.com/jdcSxywuNm
— AHMAD SLMAN (@ahmadslmanz) September 19, 2026
The alert comes amid renewed fighting in Yemen between Yemeni Armed Forces and Saudi-backed forces, after the confrontations reignited in July.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have also declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and begun targeting vessels in the Red Sea, in a "blockade for blockade" retaliation equation against Saudi Arabia's blockade against the country that has been imposed for a decade.
The incident marks the first reported extension of the renewed confrontation to Riyadh, adding to regional tensions amid the ongoing US war on Iran, which has already disrupted global markets and energy supplies.
Read more: US supervising Saudi aggression on Yemen
YAF reject Saudi's accusation of targeting Mecca
The latest alert also follows an accusation by Riyadh that the YAF targeted Mecca on Wednesday, saying the alleged incident was a "cowardly terrorist attack" against Islam's holy city.
Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of Ansar Allah, rejected accusations that the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted Mecca, calling the claim "a deception, a great lie, a fabrication, and a gross falsehood."
He said, "The land of faith cannot target Mecca, and our Yemeni people do not accept aggression against sanctities," further stating that "the aggression with false propaganda and terrible and horrific fabrications is a fundamental part of the Saudi aggression against our people, aimed at distorting its image."
The Ansar Allah leader asserted that "the Saudi enemy employs all its media and propaganda capabilities to justify its crimes against the Yemeni people."
He also said the Saudi enemy "seeks to bring others to share in its criminality against our people," while calling the accusation "a great, ugly, and extremely heinous lie and a great, exposed falsehood."
"No Muslim in the world can accept such a Saudi falsehood against a people whom the Messenger of God testified are the faith of Yemen," he stated, emphasizing that the Saudi enemy is "trying, through its great falsehood, to compensate for its failure and setbacks on the ground," calling the accusation "the lie of the age."
