A ballistic missile has been intercepted by air defence forces northeast of the Saudi capital Riyadh, the country's state media has reported.

Al Arabiya TV said the missile was fired from Yemen and was brought down close to the capital by Saudi air defence forces.

Saudi Arabia's Al Ekhbariya TV reported it was brought down north of King Khaled Airport and Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority confirmed on Twitter that it had been brought down over the airport.

The authority said in two tweets: "The Saudi air defence managed to intercept a ballistic missile towards Riyadh.

"The rocket landed on the airport campus and did not cause any significant damage."


:: Riyadh missile: The last thing Yemen's war needs

Saudi military officials blamed the Houthi rebel forces in Yemen, Al Arabiya reported, adding that it proved the "involvement of one of the countries of the region sponsoring terrorism".

Image: A map showing the location of the airport relative to the centre of Riyadh

Government forces spokesman Turki al Maliki was reported to have told the TV channel the missile was brought down by a US-made Patriot anti-missile rocket, resulting in "shrapnel" being scattered over an uninhabited area.

He called it an "explicit challenge to violate the UN resolution (2216) in order to threaten the security of Saudi Arabia and... regional and international security, towards populated cities and villages... contrary to international humanitarian law".

Sky's Diplomatic Editor Dominic Waghorn said: "What we have in terms of reported facts are a loud explosion, or a number of them over the King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

"We have reports - eyewitnesses on the ground and video that hasn't been verified yet - of outgoing fire, which might well be air defence missile fire coming out of the airport.

"And then we have a claim from Houthi rebels in Yemen that they fired a long-range missile at Riyadh and the Saudi air defence forces saying it has intercepted a long distance missile that it believes was fired from Yemen.

Image: The missile was reportedly fired across the Saudi border by Yemen's Houthi rebels

"This is a very significant development. Yemen is 500 or 600 miles south of Riyadh. For the Houthi rebels to have fired a missile that far and that accurately, is a bit of a game changer."

For two and a half years Saudi Arabia has led a coalition fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Saudis, who back Yemen's internationally recognised government, accuse the Houthis of starting the war.

The Houthi rebels have seized control of Yemen's capital Sanaa, which has forced the government into exile.

Despite thousands of airstrikes and a blockade of Yemen from the sea and air, the Saudi-led coalition has failed to push the Houthis out, although it does claim to have reduced the territory the rebels control.

Some, including the authors of a UN report, have accused the Saudis of causing devastation and the deaths of thousands, as a result of their involvement in the war.