Middle East Monitoring Desk Islamabad
Yemen’s Houthis launched strikes targeting “sensitive sites” in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and oil facilities in the kingdom’s port city of Yanbu, hours after residents reported blasts in the Saudi capital.
“In response to the Saudi enemy’s attempts to target the capital Sana’a… the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
“The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”
The Houthi statement came after firefighters extinguished a blaze on a fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil giant Aramco at a fuel depot near Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday, according to an AFP journalist.
Situation at Riyadh Airport
A large plume of smoke was visible near Riyadh’s main airport after booms were heard and Saudi Arabia sent alerts overnight warning of potential danger around the capital, amid an escalation in attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground.
Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 reported major issues at the Saudi capital’s Riyadh King Khalid International Airport, including cancellations and delays.
The airport was listed under the site’s maximum disruption index of 5.0, meaning the airport was seeing “major problems with long delays and several cancelled flights”.
The incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Makkah on Wednesday, denouncing it as a “cowardly terrorist attack”.
Houthis strongly denied the accusation, calling it a “worn-out lie”.
New Threats to Global Oil Supplies
The attacks have created new threats to global oil supplies, putting at risk trade via Bab al-Mandab — the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports — while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded.
The Houthis insist there is no threat to shipping in the sea lane — except for Saudi ships, from the world’s leading crude exporter.
On Friday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had foiled unspecified “criminal attempts” in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, blaming Saudi Arabia and vowing a response.
The group, which seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast in a lightning advance this month, says the Saudi Air Force has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against it in recent days.
The attack targeting Riyadh comes as the Houthis improve their defences in newly conquered territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, with members of the group telling AFP they have been installing radar and digging tunnels.
UNSC Statement
The UN Security Council (UNSC) in a statement on Friday “condemned in the strongest terms continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children”.
In the statement, the UNSC also condemned “Houthi military escalation in Yemen”.
The United Nations said on Friday that the renewed fighting had displaced more than 112,000 people while nearly 3,000 others had fled across the sea to Djibouti.
US – No to Stop Houthis – Yes to Sale of Jets
The US, according to Axios, last week refused to strike the Houthis at Saudi Arabia’s request. Washington approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom to help Riyadh “deter current and future threats”, the US State Department said.
The war in Yemen broke out in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa and other regions, triggering a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015. The fragile truce reached in 2022 between the warring parties collapsed in July, when the Houthis defied Riyadh’s control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian aircraft to land in Yemen.
