Houthi Strike Claims Amid Yemen War Escalation

Iran-aligned Houthi forces said they attacked an oil facility south of Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, describing the strike as retaliation for Saudi attacks in Yemen. Saudi strikes reportedly hit Sanaa, where correspondents heard explosions and saw aircraft firing missiles. Houthi-affiliated media reported 26 strikes on the capital, while fires and smoke were observed at an Aramco facility near Riyadh. The Houthis also reported missile strikes on telecommunications infrastructure in Saada. The attacks are part of a sharp escalation in Yemen’s civil war, which resumed in July after several years of relative calm and a fragile truce. The renewed conflict followed Saudi retaliation for an unauthorised Iranian flight to Sanaa carrying a Houthi delegation. The Houthis subsequently attacked Saudi territory and launched an offensive along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, taking coastal areas and imposing a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. Fighting has also intensified around Taiz, where sources reported dozens of deaths. The Houthis said 55 of their fighters were killed, while government sources reported 26 troops killed. Saudi Arabia said a Houthi projectile damaged a school in Najran. Riyadh has reportedly sought US assistance, but President Donald Trump has so far declined. The renewed hostilities are worsening Yemen’s severe humanitarian crisis. The World Food Programme warned that three-quarters of Yemen’s population could not meet basic food needs. Separately, Iraq’s state-owned Oil Tanker Company said it had transported two million barrels of Iraqi crude through the Strait of Hormuz aboard a large crude carrier, its first such operation in decades. The move gives state oil marketer SOMO more flexibility over where and how to sell the oil. The company plans to acquire specialised tankers to expand its fleet. Iraq has previously obtained Iranian permission for its tankers to transit the strait, which Iran has effectively closed during its conflict with the United States.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they launched a missile-and-drone attack on an Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, causing fires at the targeted sites. Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier Yahya Saree described the operation as retaliation for what he called a siege and Saudi airstrikes. The article does not independently confirm the claim. Saudi Arabia’s coalition supporting Yemen’s government called the Houthi statement “misleading.” In a separate incident last month, the Houthis claimed an attack on an Aramco facility in Yanbu; Riyadh said it intercepted the missiles and that no damage occurred. The reported attack comes amid a sharp escalation in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Iranian-backed Houthis. The Saudi-led coalition said it conducted operations against Houthi forces early Sunday, claiming hundreds of fighters were killed. Saree vowed continued attacks on Saudi military mobilisations until what he described as the aggression and siege against Yemen ended. The article places the latest claims within a wider resurgence of Yemen’s civil war. Recent violence has reportedly killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. The Houthis also captured the strategic city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime passage. The territorial gains are described as the rebels’ largest in years and as having ended a 2022 ceasefire that had largely halted major fighting. Overall, the report presents competing claims from the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition while emphasizing the renewed violence and its consequences, without establishing whether the Riyadh refinery was hit.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they attacked a Saudi Aramco facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, amid renewed escalation in Yemen’s war. In a statement posted on X, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree described the operation as precise and said it caused fires at the target. A large plume of smoke and flames was seen near an Aramco facility on Saturday. However, Saudi authorities have not reported an attack, and Aramco has not commented on what caused the fire, leaving the Houthis’ account unconfirmed in the article. The Saudi-led coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said early Sunday that its forces conducted 97 targeting operations against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis. A government forces spokesman said the strikes targeted at least 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles. The reported operations involved aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers. The report places the alleged Riyadh strike within a broader pattern of attacks and intensifying conflict. The Houthis said they had targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu late the previous month; Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six missiles aimed toward Taif and Yanbu and reported no damage to Aramco sites. The coalition also said the Houthis attacked a power station in Medina earlier in the week. Fighting has intensified since a fragile truce collapsed in July 2026. In mid-September, the Houthis seized Mocha and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a key route for global oil shipments, before anti-Houthi forces stabilised the front lines. The renewed conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and the government retreated to Aden.