As the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen escalate their attacks, air raid sirens have been sounded for the first time in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh.

According to reports from the BBC and other outlets on the 19th local time, Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Civil Defense issued air raid warnings for several regions, including Riyadh, starting from the night before through the morning of that day.

This marks the first alert issued for Riyadh since July, when the Houthis intensified their attacks and declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.

Reports of explosion sounds followed in Riyadh.

However, authorities stated that the alerts have since been lifted and the dangerous situation has ended.

The Houthis have been expanding their offensive, having recently captured the key western Yemeni stronghold of the port of Mocha, followed by Perim Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea.

As the Houthis step up attacks targeting the Saudi mainland, threat alerts have been issued consecutively for the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia's second-largest city of Jeddah, and now the capital, Riyadh.

Additionally, the Houthis launched large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Yanbu and the Khamis Mushait air base.

In response, Saudi Arabia has launched successive airstrikes against rebel positions and communication facilities in Yemen's Taiz and Hajjah provinces.

Armed clashes between the two sides are intensifying, with circumstances indicating that Saudi Arabia has deployed Chinese-made ballistic missiles in actual combat against the Houthis.

The Houthi side also claimed on the 16th that they shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet with a surface-to-air missile over Marib Governorate in Yemen, releasing related footage.

As the war situation intensifies, concerns are growing that the Yemeni civil war, which had maintained a relatively quiet phase following the 2022 truce agreement, could escalate into a full-scale conflict.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)