Politics News
Houthi missiles over Riyadh and a drone near Mecca: Saudi and Houthi accounts clash
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis has intensified. RTÉ reported on Thursday, October 29, that the Houthis said Saudi strikes had killed 12 people in residential areas of western Yemen, and that explosions later rocked Riyadh.
Arab News reported that debris from two Houthi ballistic missiles, intercepted over Riyadh on Thursday, caused a minor injury to a citizen and damaged a house and a vehicle. On Friday the Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed another ballistic missile aimed at the south and a drone over Riyadh. The paper also reported Yemeni forces saying the Houthis had targeted Aden airport and the Maashiq presidential palace.
The missile was “launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the southern region.” — Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, coalition spokesman, via Arab News
The South China Morning Post reported Saudi Arabia's claim that it intercepted a Houthi drone in the region around Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied carrying out any operation targeting Mecca. Hindustan Times carried the strikes on Yemen's presidential palace.
How each outlet framed it
- RTÉ — both sides' claims: deaths in Yemen and blasts in Riyadh.
- Arab News — the Saudi official account: interceptions, civil-defence reports and attacks on Aden.
- South China Morning Post — the Mecca claim and the Houthi denial, side by side.
- Hindustan Times — the attack on Yemen's presidential palace.
What we don't know yet: The death toll in western Yemen comes from the Houthis, and the Mecca interception from the coalition. Neither claim had been independently confirmed in these reports.