US officials on Wednesday warned of a possible strike on Riyadh, as the Saudi Arabian-led military coalition reported the interception of drones and missiles fired by Yemeni rebels toward the kingdom.
The Iran-linked Houthi rebels have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, mainly targeting southern provinces along their shared border.
The US embassy in Riyadh warned US citizens in the capital to stay on “alert” and “take necessary precautions.”
“The embassy is tracking reports of possible missiles or drones that may be headed toward Riyadh today,” the embassy said in a statement on its Web site, without offering any details.
Houthi rebels have targeted Riyadh in the past with missiles and drones, with the coalition saying it intercepted most of them.
Riyadh lies more than 700km north of the border with Yemen.
Hours after the embassy statement, the coalition said that six bomb-laden drones launched by the rebels toward the kingdom had been intercepted, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
It did not specify the target.
The rebels launched the drones “deliberately and systematically to target civilians” in the kingdom, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said.
The coalition also subsequently intercepted rebel ballistic missiles targeting the southern provinces of Jizan and Najran, as well as the southern city of Khamis Mushait, state television said.
Two other targets were destroyed in the air, it said.
Yemen is mired in civil war between the Houthi rebels, who control the capital, Sana’a, and an internationally recognized government supported by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.
The attacks come amid intense fighting as the Houthis try to seize control of oil-rich Marib Province — the government’s last northern stronghold, which lies 120km east of Sana’a.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying sophisticated weapons to the Houthis, a charge that Tehran denies.
The coalition, which is backed by Western powers including the US, in 2015 intervened in support of the Yemeni government after the Houthis seized Sana’a, but it has struggled to oust the militia.
Since then, tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict.
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