Houthis strike Riyadh and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province; attacks disrupt over 40% of flights

Saudi-led coalition launches retaliatory strikes on fuel depots, docks in Houthi-held areas

Trump warns he will 'never forget' Houthi attacks; Turkey, Syria involvement watched closely

Smoke rises from a fire at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [Reuters]
Smoke rises from a fire at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [Reuters]

Armed conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels has intensified, with a missile strike hitting the headquarters of Aramco — the state-owned oil giant at the heart of the Saudi economy. The successive Houthi attacks have raised serious concerns about airport safety, disrupting more than 40 percent of all flights across Saudi Arabia.

US President Donald Trump signaled the possibility of retaliation against the Houthis, saying he would still be in office after the November midterm elections.

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said Tuesday (local time) that an Aramco office building in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province, was struck, causing a small fire. No casualties were reported.

The fire broke out shortly after the Saudi military issued an alert warning that several Houthi missiles were heading toward the Eastern Province, a major oil-producing region.

Reuters, citing an Aramco official, reported that a ballistic missile struck the Dhahran complex where Aramco's headquarters is located, damaging the top three floors of one office building.

Aramco is Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company and the backbone of its economy. Analysts say the Houthis' decision to target Aramco's headquarters carries significant symbolic weight in the conflict.

Damage was also reported in the capital, Riyadh.

According to Saudi civil defense authorities, debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell on a residential area of Riyadh, injuring four civilians and damaging 15 homes.

The Saudi military also disclosed that it had intercepted a missile over Al-Kharj, a city about 80 kilometers southeast of Riyadh that serves as a key Saudi Air Force base.

The Saudi-led coalition launched sweeping airstrikes against major fuel and military facilities in Houthi-held areas, including the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said the joint command had confirmed the Houthis were exploiting civilian facilities and critical infrastructure for military purposes, and that precision military operations had been carried out to neutralize them.

Al-Maliki said the strikes targeted the Al-Sabaha central depot in Sanaa — used for fueling and charging — along with underground reserve fuel storage sites and fuel transport and unloading tanks and docks in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Dhamar.

"The Houthis have directly diverted resources that rightfully belong to the Yemeni people to fund terrorist activities," he said. "These facilities were used to replenish missile and drone arsenals that threaten the safety of airports, ports and commercial vessels in Saudi Arabia and on the Red Sea."

The strikes came immediately after the coalition issued emergency evacuation orders to civilians near the targeted facilities.

The airstrikes are widely seen as retaliation for a devastating Houthi attack on Riyadh's international airport.

The Houthis had been targeting major airports for a week in response to Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemeni civil war. On Saturday, a missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 13 people — the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in a decade.

Since Thursday, more than 3,120 flights scheduled to depart from airports across Saudi Arabia have been canceled or did not operate — roughly 41 percent of all planned departures. The figure includes more than 300 flights scheduled to depart Wednesday (local time).

Some airlines have suspended flights to Saudi Arabia, citing the Houthi attacks on airports, AP reported.

Fighting between Houthi rebels and Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia has also intensified.

Yemen's Interior Ministry said six people were killed and 18 wounded in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday in Houthi attacks on the southwestern city of Taiz.

A Yemeni government military commander said the battle for Taiz — long contested — had entered a critical phase.

The reignited Yemeni civil war is escalating rapidly, compounded by the ripple effects of the broader US-Iran conflict.

With Iran having blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in February, the Houthis seized control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — an alternative energy shipping route at the mouth of the Red Sea — cutting off Saudi Arabia's oil export lanes.

Saudi Arabia is now conducting large-scale military operations to push back Houthi forces that have advanced close to the strait.

Amid the escalation, Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan each spoke by phone Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the situation.

Iran, Saudi Arabia's biggest regional rival and a longtime backer of the Houthis, said Tuesday it was prepared to mediate between the two sides.

As the situation continues to worsen, attention is also turning to how actively the United States will intervene in the Saudi-Houthi conflict.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday that "the Houthis are behaving very badly," adding: "After the midterms are over, I will still be here, and I will never forget."

The remarks were widely interpreted as a signal that Trump could order retaliatory strikes against the Houthis while still in office, regardless of the midterm outcome.

Whether regional actors such as Turkey and Syria will join operations against the Houthis is also drawing close attention.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com