Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts
Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts
The News
Saudi Arabia issued emergency alerts across the kingdom late Friday and early Saturday after warning of a "hostile aerial threat," The Independent reported.
Two explosions were heard over Riyadh before authorities issued an all-clear, according to The Times of Israel, which called it the capital's first air raid alert since the renewed fighting in Yemen.
Reuters reported that Saudi civil defence sent the all-clear early Saturday after issuing alerts for Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj, east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
Timeline
Reuters reports that alerts warning of potential danger have been issued across Saudi Arabia. The Independent reports the kingdom warned of a "hostile aerial threat" late Friday and into Saturday.
Alerts are issued for Riyadh and for Al-Kharj, east of the capital. Two explosions are heard over Riyadh, per The Times of Israel.
Saudi civil defence sends an all-clear for the capital, Reuters reports.
Reactions
Saudi civil defence's public response was the all-clear message that followed the alerts, Reuters reported. The sources in this story do not carry further comment from Saudi officials on what triggered them.
The Houthis accuse the Saudis of launching dozens of strikes at their positions in Yemen, according to The Times of Israel.
What's Next
Watch for whether Saudi authorities say publicly what set off the alerts and what caused the explosions heard over Riyadh.
Watch, too, for further alerts in the capital and in Al-Kharj if the attacks Reuters describes as an uptick by the Iran-aligned Houthis continue.
More
Al-Kharj sits east of Riyadh, and both cities were covered by the alerts Reuters described. The Times of Israel frames Friday night's warning as a first for the capital since fighting in Yemen resumed — a marker of how far the current round of the conflict has reached beyond Yemen's borders.
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