Why this mattersSo let's be clear about what this morning actually is. It's not one missile. It's the latest in a wave.
The coalition says the Houthis have fired at least 14 ballistic missiles and more than 60 drones at Saudi Arabia this month. That figure comes from the coalition and the Saudi Press Agency, not independently confirmed.
And October has been bloody. The coalition and the Saudi government say Houthi attacks this month have killed 24 people and injured more than 374. Again, that's their number.
The worst single strike was 10 October. A missile hit between two terminals at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. 13 people died. 309 were wounded. Attacks on that same airport between 7 and 11 October killed 18 people in total and injured more than 333.
Two days ago, air defences intercepted a drone heading for Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield. The interception still killed two people — a Nepali national and a Filipino national. Two more were hurt. A day or two ago, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam was hit. Two killed, eight hurt. Earlier this month, Abha International Airport was hit too. Two killed, 28 hurt.
So think about what's being hit. Airports. An oilfield. And now, this morning, the capital itself.
The region is reacting. The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt have condemned the King Fahd and Shaybah attacks as violations of Saudi sovereignty. Bahrain wants international action. It says the escalation threatens regional stability and the world's energy supply.
The Houthis are not backing down. Their military spokesman, Yahya Saree, says the group has hit four Saudi sites in the past two days — Saudi Arabia's defence ministry headquarters in Riyadh, King Fahd airport, Aramco sites in Yanbu, and Abha airport. He says they'll keep going until Saudi attacks on Yemen stop and the blockade is lifted.
Yemen's government launched an operation on 5 October to take back Houthi territory. The Houthi response against Saudi Arabia has escalated sharply since. This is also tangled up with the wider war between the US, Israel and Iran. Donald Trump has said the US "knocked the hell out of" Iran and might do it again.
Britain has already stepped in. Three days ago it said it would send RAF Typhoon jets to help defend Saudi Arabia, in a defensive role only.
So here's the real question this morning. Two missiles and two drones got stopped before they landed. Nobody knows what happens with the next one.
