Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed five Houthi missile storage tunnels and four launchers in Yemen

As of 6:54 a.m. ET, Oct. 26, 2026

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen says it carried out a military operation that destroyed five tunnels used to store ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchers and a missile storage site in areas controlled by the Houthis.

"The operation included the destruction of five tunnels used for storing ballistic missiles, four ballistic missile launchers, and a missile storage," Major General Turki Al-Malki, the official spokesperson of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said in a statement carried in English by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) at 12:19 AM ET Monday (7:19 AM in Riyadh). The coalition spokesman's account posted the statement in Arabic at 11:43 PM ET Sunday, and SPA's Arabic regional account carried it minutes later.

"The operation also focused on cutting off the Houthi militia's supply lines between areas under their control and targeted the militia's fortifications, elements, and military equipment along the front lines inside Yemen," Al-Malki said, according to SPA.

Al-Malki said the coalition's Joint Forces Command acted "based on the inherent and legitimate right to self-defense" and "in response to repeated attacks by the terrorist Houthi militia," which he said had tried to target civilians and civilian objects in Saudi Arabia and Yemen with ballistic missiles and drones. He said the coalition "will continue to implement deterrent operational measures" against the Houthis and that the operation "is in accordance with the international humanitarian law and its customary rules."

The statement did not say where in Yemen the targets were, when they were struck, or whether anyone was killed or wounded.

Earlier strike on two launchers

The statement followed two earlier coalition announcements on Sunday night. At 9:07 PM ET Sunday, the coalition spokesman's account said air defenses had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Riyadh. At 9:57 PM ET, it said the coalition had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa and that one of them had been used to fire the missile toward Riyadh. SPA carried both statements in English. "Operations Continue to Dismantle Terrorist Houthi Militia's Ballistic Missile Network," SPA's English service quoted the coalition as saying.

AFP reported that the interception came after the Houthis claimed a new attack on Riyadh's international airport. GROKsiNEWS.com has not seen Saudi confirmation of any hit at the airport. AFP later reported Al-Malki's statement on the wider operation, saying he had described the destruction of four ballistic missile launchers, a missile depot and tunnels.

What is not known

The target counts and the description of the sites are the coalition's own and have not been independently verified. The coalition has not said whether the five tunnels and four launchers include the two launchers it said it destroyed in Sanaa earlier on Sunday night, and it has released no casualty figures for either operation.