By Mohammed Hatem, Alaa Shahine, and Nour Al Ali @ Bloomberg.com, April 11

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted ballistic missiles and shot down drones sent from Yemen, in the latest attack by pro-Iranian rebels that showed improved military capabilities more than three years into the conflict.

One missile was intercepted over Riyadh, with loud blasts heard in the night sky above the Saudi capital on Wednesday. Two other missiles were intercepted over the southern areas of Jazan and Najran, authorities said. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen said it also downed a drone targeting an airport in the southwestern province of Abha and another in Jazan.

The missiles were fired just hours after President Donald Trump confirmed the U.S. would strike Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are backed by Russia and Iran, over a suspected chemical weapons attack. The State Department said the Houthi attacks on Saudi population centers were “fueled by the Iranian regime’s dangerous proliferation of weapons and destabilizing activities in the region.” [....]