Dec. 19 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia’s military coalition said Tuesday it intercepted a missile that was fired at its capital, Riyadh, by Yemeni Houthi rebels.
Officials said the Burkan 2-H ballistic missile was launched toward a meeting of Saudi leaders at Riyadh’s Palace of Yamamah, the government’s headquarters.
A loud boom was heard in Riyadh and column of white smoke was seen before the Saudi coalition announced it had intercepted the missile.
Shrapnel was found in neighborhoods nearby, but no injuries were reported.
The missile intercept occurred after another was blocked last month by the Saudis’ Patriot missile defense system.
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said that attack was a “response to Saudi[s] killing innocent Yemeni civilians.”
Yemen’s nearly three-year civil war has killed or injured at least 14,000 people, since the Saudi-led offensive began in March 2015 against the Iran-backed Houthi.
