Then, a few hours later, the Houthis said something bigger. They say they hit a sensitive target in Riyadh itself, plus Saudi Aramco's site in Yanbu. Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesperson, says the group used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones in two operations, and hit what it was aiming for.
But Saudi Arabia has not confirmed a single thing about Riyadh. No alert went out for the capital. An alert did go out earlier the same day for Mecca, Tabuk, Jeddah, Yanbu and Taif, and Saudi civil defence later said the threat had passed. Nobody knows yet if there's damage or anyone hurt in Taif or Yanbu.
That's everything we know.
Why this mattersSo is this the first time Riyadh's been hit? No.
Five days ago, on 19 September, one Houthi missile flew at Riyadh at dawn. Saudi Arabia shot it down. That set off the first air-raid alert in Riyadh since this whole fight escalated in July. People near the airport heard an explosion and saw a large cloud of black smoke. Saudi Arabia says nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged.
So today's claim is actually weaker than that one.
No alert this time. And Saudi Arabia is saying nothing about Riyadh at all. Right now it's just the Houthis' word.
But here's the pattern. Since early July, Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia have come more often, and reached further in. On 8 September, strikes on Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran wounded at least 73 people. About two weeks ago, the Houthis took the entire western coast of Yemen in a fast-moving push that reached the Bab el-Mandeb strait. A week ago, Saudi Arabia said it stopped a drone heading for Mecca — the first security alert there in almost ten years. The Houthis denied it. Their leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said the claim was false.
And it's not just missiles. Saudi oil keeps getting hit too. The kingdom's East-West pipeline shut down on 11 September after drone attacks Riyadh blames on an Iraqi militia. It's only just starting up again now.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia back in July. People are calling that a second front in the wider war between America and Iran.
Yasmeen al-Eryani, from the Sana'a Center think tank, told Al Jazeera the Houthis are the ones deciding how and when this war grows.
Forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed government say they pushed back Houthi attacks on several fronts in Taiz today.
And the toll behind all of this is enormous. The United Nations says over 700 people are dead and thousands wounded in the fighting since it flared up again. Nearly 130,000 Yemenis have been forced from their homes. More than 3,000 have fled by boat to Africa.
So what don't we know? Whether anything actually reached Riyadh or Aramco's Yanbu site today. And whether last week's Mecca claim was any more real than this one.
Saudi Arabia says it stopped six missiles. The Houthis say they hit their targets anyway.
Right now, only one side has shown any proof.
