Yemen's Houthis claim new attacks on Saudi oil facilities and airports

Yemen's Houthi movement, which controls the capital Sanaa, has announced new attacks on oil facilities and airports in Saudi Arabia. The claims were made by group spokesperson Yahya Saree. Saudi authorities have not confirmed them, and it is unclear whether the projectiles reached their targets or were intercepted.

Saree said the targets included 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 named King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an air base in Khamis Mushait.

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards Yanbu and Taif on Saturday.

Strikes inside Yemen

The Interior Ministry of Yemen's internationally recognised government said two Houthi missiles hit a coast guard headquarters and a third struck a coast guard building in the Tawahi district. Saree claimed the group also targeted Saudi-backed military gatherings at what he called Al-Nasr camp and at a naval base in Aden, saying Saudi officers were overseeing mobilisation there. The coalition did not comment on that claim.

Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense briefly issued alerts warning residents of possible danger in Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah, the kingdom's second-largest city. About ten minutes later it said the threat had passed.

Collapse of the truce

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that had largely halted cross-border attacks between the coalition and the Houthis. The escalation has opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran. Earlier this month the Houthis warned airlines against using Saudi airspace, exempting only the airspace over Mecca and Medina, as they stepped up attacks on the kingdom.