Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed attacks on Saudi oil facilities and airports, while the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles as fighting between the two sides intensified.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the Iran-aligned group had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, crude oil pumping stations and the East-West Pipeline.
He also claimed attacks on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an air base in Khamis Mushait. Saree said the strikes were retaliation for Saudi attacks on Yemen, which he said had included 100 air strikes over the previous 24 hours.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the reported targets had been hit or whether the attacks had been intercepted. Saudi authorities did not directly respond to the Houthi claims, but reported missile debris falling near one of the sites identified as a target.
The Saudi-led coalition said it had destroyed two ballistic missiles launched towards Yanbu and Taif. Saudi Civil Defence said debris from intercepted missiles had fallen in the Mecca and Medina regions.
Parts of the missiles were reported to have landed in Wadi al-Mughammas in Mecca, as well as areas around Jeddah, Taif and Rabigh. It was unclear whether the debris near Rabigh was connected to the Houthis’ reported targeting of the oil refinery.
Saudi Civil Defence earlier issued brief alerts warning residents of possible danger in Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah. About 10 minutes later, it said the threat had passed.
In Yemen, the Saudi-backed government said the Houthis had fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard sites in the southern port city of Aden. Its Interior Ministry said two missiles struck a coast guard headquarters, while a third hit a coast guard building in the Tawahi district.
Saree said Houthi forces had targeted Saudi-backed military gatherings at al-Nasr camp and a naval military base in Aden, where he claimed Saudi officers were overseeing mobilisation. The Saudi-led coalition did not immediately comment on that assertion.
Houthi-linked media also reported deadly Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the group’s stronghold of Sanaa. At least four people were reported killed and several injured in a strike on a house in the city’s Asr area, while a separate report said a cement factory in Hamdan had been hit.
The Houthi-controlled news agency Saba initially said an unspecified number of civilians had been killed or injured at the factory. Houthi-affiliated television later reported eight deaths and 10 injuries in the attack.
The renewed clashes have ended a United Nations-brokered truce from 2022 that had largely halted cross-border attacks between the Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control Sanaa.
The Houthi movement warned airlines earlier this month against using Saudi airspace, exempting only the airspace over Mecca and Medina, as it intensified attacks on the kingdom.
