The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said early on Saturday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Region, as attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group continue. The coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, said it later intercepted and destroyed a second drone launched by the Houthis towards the Southern Region.

The Eastern Region is the economic powerhouse of Saudi Arabia and has been subject to multiple attacks by the Houthis in the past few weeks. Cross-border fighting involving the coalition and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa, has intensified amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, opening another front in the wider regional conflict. The coalition had also said on Friday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the Houthis over the Medina region, but the Iran-aligned group denied any Friday attack.

A denial over the holy cities

The Houthis have repeatedly denied targeting Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities, rejecting Saudi accusations that they launched drones towards the cities. No casualty or damage figures were given in the coalition's account of the Eastern Region interception, and the Houthi side had not, in the reports available, confirmed the Eastern Region drone. The episode underlines how the Yemen conflict continues to spill across Saudi Arabia's borders even as attention focuses on the Gulf, with air defences in the kingdom's east and south now a regular part of the war's weekly rhythm.