SANAA — The Saudi-led coalition said today it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis at Saudi Arabia, as government forces backed by the kingdom battled to retake territory seized by the group in a lightning offensive.

The Iran-backed fighters claimed they struck several airports, including in Riyadh, while the Yemeni government’s Saba news agency reported missiles and drones targeting Aden airport in Yemen.

The flurry of attacks came as the fighters denied being pushed back by government forces, after Yemen’s military said Monday it had removed the group from the areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait, a Red Sea chokepoint, and the port city of Mocha.

Claims by both sides in Yemen have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation on the ground moving fast and access for journalists difficult.

After a four-year ceasefire, the Houthis — who control most of northwest Yemen — seized the entire western coastline along the Red Sea in the country’s deadliest fighting in years.

The offensive reignited Yemen’s long-running conflict, deepening the wider Middle East war which has roiled world energy markets and snarled trade routes.

Sources on both sides told AFP yesterday that fighting across the country had killed more than 270 government troops and Houthi fighters over the past day alone.

Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi coalition, said today that it had shot down a missile launched by the Houthis north of Riyadh.

“A ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia north of Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed,” al-Maliki wrote on X.

It came as Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said that a drone attack on Riyadh international airport and missiles and drones targeting Abha airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait had “hit their targets accurately”.

It is the second time this week that the Houthis claim to have attacked King Khalid International Airport.