Houthis Fire Ballistic Missile at King Khalid Int'l Airport in Riyadh - Reports

Saudi air defense forces said on Friday they had intercepted a ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen in the northeast of the Saudi capital, according to media reports.

Al Jazeera has reported that Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they launched the Burkan 2-H missile that covered a distance of 500 kilometers from the Saudi-Yemeni border before being intercepted.

Prior to that, reports of a blast at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh emerged. Social media users have said that pieces of a missile crashed onto the airport.

Remnants of the intercepted #ballisticmissile landed near King Khalid International Airport in #Riyadh, #SaudiArabiapic.twitter.com/lDpHf3hsIP

— عادل بن عارف (@abumiftah) 4 ноября 2017 г.

A Riyadh-based newspaper Al Riyadh has released a video on its Twitter account allegedly showing the interception of a missile.

📹 #فيديو اعتراض الدفاع الجوي السعودي للصاروخ الباليستي في سماء العاصمة #الرياض 🇸🇦https://t.co/FSAWXZJgWX

— pic.twitter.com/hoO6ZmXmY8

— جريدة الرياض (@AlRiyadh) 4 ноября 2017 г.

Photos, allegedly pieces of the intercepted missile, have also emerged on the web.

Photos (via @NajranToday) reportedly showing pieces of a ballistic missile fired from #Yemen and intercepted over northern #Riyadh pic.twitter.com/L4p9CVgDGc

— Miriam Goldman Eps (@Miriam411) 4 ноября 2017 г.

Houthis are Shi'ite militants that have been involved in the Yemeni civil war that started when the Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign in the country in 2015. They have been fighting against the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.