Explosions reverberated across Riyadh Saturday following air raid sirens triggered by Saudi authorities amid repeated regional strikes linked to Yemen's pro-Iranian Houthi movement, marking the capital's first direct impact since Yemeni hostilities escalated in July.

Resident mobile alerts received shortly before 3 am (0000 GMT) warned that the sector faced hostile aerial threats and directed the public to shelter indoors.

Dual detonations followed before Saudi civil defense agencies rescinded the warning roughly 30 minutes later.

Houthi forces, controlling major populated Yemeni zones, executed a rapid September offensive capturing the nation's entire Red Sea coastline and commanding the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait.

Declaring a maritime blockade against Saudi shipments—vital for bypassing the Persian Gulf war-choked Strait of Hormuz—the group maintains that passage remains unhindered for non-Saudi traffic, whereas Kpler shipping data indicates declining Saudi transit volume despite five laden vessels clearing the waterway last week.

United Nations (UN) reporting Friday documented over 112,000 internally displaced persons and nearly 3,000 maritime refugees landing in Djibouti from renewed combat.

Source: AFP