RIYADH (The Thursday Times) — Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted and destroyed multiple aerial threats near Al-Kharj and in the north of the kingdom, as regional tensions deepened and Gulf states faced a widening spillover from the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the defence ministry’s spokesperson, said three drones were intercepted and destroyed east of Al-Kharj Governorate, about 80 kilometres south-east of Riyadh. Separate official statements also said three cruise missiles were brought down outside Al-Kharj city, while another drone was intercepted east of Al-Jouf Region.
Saudi officials did not publicly identify who launched the projectiles, but the interceptions came amid a broader wave of attacks and counter-attacks across the Gulf, with shipping, energy infrastructure and diplomatic sites increasingly exposed to the conflict’s reach.
The defence ministry said the kingdom’s air defence systems remained on high alert and fully prepared to protect Saudi airspace and respond to hostile threats. No casualties or damage were reported in the interceptions announced around Al-Kharj.∎
