Houthis claim attack on Saudi capital after smoke seen rising near Riyadh airport

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen say they carried out drone and missile attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh and energy sites on the country's Red Sea coast. A column of black smoke was seen rising from what appeared to be fuel tanks near the Saudi capital's international airport where flights were disrupted temporarily.City residents had been given an alert and urged to stay indoors, the first such alert since a recent escalation in the conflict with the Houthis.There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities.In a statement posted online, Houthi military spokesman Yahya al-Sarea said a "large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones" had been used to attack "sensitive sites" in Riyadh and Aramco state oil and gas company facilities in Yanbu on the coast. He added that the attacks were "in response to the Saudi enemy's criminal attempts" to target the Yemeni capital Sanaa.Earlier, Sarea had accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out 300 strikes across Yemen during the past week.The Houthis are locked in a civil war with Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.