Yemen’s Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, said on Saturday they carried out seven missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities, and it was not clear whether the reported attacks hit their targets or were intercepted, France 24 reported.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree listed the targets on Al Masirah television: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, the East-West pipeline, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Najran airport and an air base at Khamis Mushait. The seven operations targeted airports, oil facilities and military sites, Shafaq News reported. India Today reported that Saree also named crude oil pumping stations. Those are Houthi claims, and none of the accounts reviewed independently verified damage or casualties.
The Houthis presented the attacks as a response to airstrikes, according to the headline of an LBC report. The accounts reviewed did not include a Saudi statement on any such strikes.
The claims follow a Saudi-led coalition statement on Thursday that its air defences intercepted and destroyed 11 drones and a ballistic missile, including drones over Riyadh and Medina, Anadolu reported.
Aramco has already been under pressure. Eastern Herald reported that the company emptied its Dhahran headquarters after an alarm and asked staff to work remotely, nine days after a missile hit the complex, with the cause of the alarm and the length of the closure unknown. Gulf foreign ministers have separately called for the Houthis to be designated a terrorist group while backing mediation, and Al-Azhar has urged an urgent mediation committee as Saudi-Houthi fighting intensifies.
For now, the claims are unconfirmed. Saudi authorities had not said whether any of the seven reported attacks reached their targets, whether anyone was hurt, or whether airports and the East-West pipeline were affected. Those answers will determine how serious Saturday’s attacks were for Saudi oil exports and air travel.
