Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed 3 drones in Riyadh and the south amid Houthi escalation
Key Facts
The coalition spokesman said 3 drones were intercepted and destroyed in Riyadh and the southern regions on October 26, 2026, as the Houthis said they had targeted oil facilities and Riyadh airport. The development coincided with escalating fighting in the region and a meeting in Tehran between Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials and Iranian officials to discuss regional coordination. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the Houthi claims concerning attacks on pumping stations and the airport. The coalition’s announcement that it intercepted the drones therefore remains separate from the Houthi claim that specific sites were targeted. Available information did not confirm damage to oil facilities or disruption to crude supplies.
The Houthis said they had attacked crude oil pumping stations on the East–West pipeline and Riyadh airport, while Reuters reported the coalition’s announcement that it had intercepted a missile headed for the capital and destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa. The report said one of the launchers had been used to fire a missile toward Riyadh. These developments are part of an exchange of attacks between the Houthis and the coalition, as military operations in Yemen continue. The coalition also said it had carried out an operation against Houthi targets, destroying 5 tunnels used to store missiles, 4 launchers and a missile storage facility. The report did not independently confirm the claims that the pumping stations or airport had been targeted.
The claims of an attack on the East–West pipeline are sensitive because of the route’s role in transporting crude between eastern Saudi Arabia and Red Sea ports. The 1,200-kilometer pipeline was temporarily shut in September as a precaution after a drone attack, according to Reuters. The Houthis also said they had targeted pumping stations and an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Rabigh refinery on Saturday. Saudi Arabia did not confirm those claims, according to Reuters. The announcement of the drone interceptions on October 26 did not confirm any new damage to the pipeline or related facilities.
The Houthis said they had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which resumed operations at two terminals on Sunday, October 25, after an earlier attack that killed 13 people earlier in the month. On another front, the Associated Press reported that the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said an attack on King Fahd International Airport in the east of the country on October 21 killed one resident and injured 8 people. These incidents point to continued targeting of airports in the escalation, while there was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the latest alleged attack on Riyadh airport. The U.S. State Department ordered non-essential staff at its embassy in Riyadh and its affiliated consulates to leave Saudi Arabia amid concerns about an escalation in attacks. Egyptian lawmakers on Monday approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to provide support to Saudi Arabia in confronting Houthi attacks.
On the diplomatic track, officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination. The meeting coincided with Houthi statements about the attacks, but sources did not establish a causal link between the two tracks or that the meeting preceded the attacks. Against the backdrop of the escalation, Reuters said the latest fighting effectively ended a UN-sponsored truce that had largely held since 2022. This places the diplomatic moves in the context of a continuing deterioration in security, without indicating whether they will produce new understandings. The next scheduled release in Saudi economic data is the third-quarter gross domestic product reading on November 1, 2026; the calendar page lists -4.70% as the previous reading.