Yemen’s Houthi rebels have announced they attacked a Saudi Aramco facility in the capital, Riyadh, utilizing ballistic missiles and drones. The claim comes amid a significant escalation in hostilities between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi Arabia.
In a statement released on the social media platform X on Saturday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree declared that the group had executed a “military operation with ballistic missiles and drones” targeting the energy company’s infrastructure in Riyadh. He described the strikes as “precise and direct,” asserting that they resulted in fires at the site.
Despite the Houthi claims, Saudi authorities have not confirmed any attack, and Aramco has not commented on the incident. However, observers reported seeing a large plume of smoke and fire near an Aramco facility in the capital on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government, announced that its armed forces had conducted 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements. The strikes targeted the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, employing warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers. Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, spokesman for the government forces, stated that the attacks targeted at least 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles.
The recent escalation follows the collapse of a fragile truce in July 2022, after which fighting intensified. In mid-September, Houthi forces captured the port city of Mocha and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical artery for global oil shipments, though anti-Houthi troops have since stabilized the front lines.
This is not the first time the Houthis have targeted Saudi energy infrastructure recently. Late last month, they claimed an attack on facilities in Yanbu, a Red Sea port on Saudi Arabia’s western coast. At that time, Saudi Arabia stated it had intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu, reporting no damage to Aramco sites. Earlier this week, the Saudi-led coalition reported that the Houthis had attacked a power station in the holy city of Medina.
The renewed conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Yemen, which has been engulfed in war since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, forcing the government to retreat to Aden.
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