SANAA/RIYADH, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi group toward the Saudi capital Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday evening, while the Houthis said 27 people were killed in Saudi airstrikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
Loud explosions were heard in Riyadh earlier in the day. Local residents received alerts via mobile apps.
In a separate statement on Thursday morning, the coalition said Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched toward the kingdom's Eastern Province.
Meanwhile, the Houthi group said through its al-Masirah TV channel that 27 people, including women and children, were killed and 18 others wounded in airstrikes in the northern province of Al-Jawf and the southwestern province of Taiz within less than 24 hours.
In a statement, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said Saudi forces carried out 116 air and missile strikes over the past 24 hours across Houthi-held areas in six Yemeni provinces.
The figures could not be independently verified.
Also on Thursday, Majid al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for Yemen's government forces, said the forces conducted 982 attacks over the past 24 hours using warplanes, drones, artillery and rocket launchers against the Houthis.
Al-Nuzaili said the attacks targeted Houthi reinforcements, command centers, firing positions and supply lines, claiming that 324 Houthi fighters and commanders were "neutralized" and 108 military vehicles and weapons were destroyed or damaged.
The developments came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with the two sides exchanging cross-border strikes in recent weeks.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government. ■
