Saudi air defences shot down a drone in the Riyadh region on Saturday, the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said, according to The Hindu.
"Air defences intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone in the Riyadh region," Turki al-Malki wrote on X, adding that "debris from the interception fell without causing injuries".
He did not say who launched it.
On Friday, Malki said the Houthis had targeted the Medina region, home to Islam's second holiest city. The group later denied that claim, The Hindu reported.
How the conflict reached Riyadh
The Hindu reported that a fragile 2022 truce collapsed in July after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Sanaa, defying Saudi control over Yemeni airspace. Hostilities have since resumed between the Iran-backed group and Yemen's internationally recognised government, which Riyadh supports.
The Houthis later declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, and seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, the paper said. The UN figures it cited put the toll at more than 1,600 killed and over 275,000 displaced since the fighting restarted. The Houthis, for their part, have reported frequent Saudi airstrikes in areas they control.
Why it matters for Indians
The airport strikes this month have already touched India directly.
An AFP report carried by eNCA said an attack on Riyadh's airport on Saturday, October 10, which the Houthis claimed, killed 12 people and wounded 309. Another strike the next day killed a Pakistani resident and wounded 11, the civil aviation authority said. The Indian embassy said one of its citizens died that Sunday after being wounded the day before, according to the same report.
The US, Canadian, German and Spanish embassies warned their citizens at the time to avoid Riyadh airport. The Hindu reported that the attacks forced the airport to close for two weeks and led to flagship events being cancelled.