Iran-allied Houthis say they attacked Saudi oil sites, strikes reported on Yemen’s Aden

• The Iran-allied Houthis said they attacked Saudi oil sites and airports, including Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and Aramco sites in Yanbu and Rabigh.
• The Saudi-led coalition said it shot down two ballistic missiles fired towards Yanbu and Taif, while Yemen’s government said Houthi missiles hit coast guard sites in Aden.
• The fighting has broken a 2022 UN-brokered truce and widened tensions in the region, with Saudi Civil Defence briefly warning people in Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah.

RIYADH - Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis said they launched attacks at Saudi oil facilities and airports on Oct 24, and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the group said it downed two missiles, as clashes between the two sides intensified.

On another front of an escalating conflict reignited by the Iran war, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said the Houthis also fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard sites in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.

There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities on the Houthi reports, and it was not immediately clear if the reported attacks had hit their targets in the kingdom or had been intercepted.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted 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 said the group targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an airbase in Khamis Mushait.

The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Houthis towards Yanbu and Taif on Saturday.

The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted cross-border attacks between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa.

The escalation has opened another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

In Yemen, the Interior Ministry of the internationally recognised government said two of the Houthis’ missiles had struck a coast guard headquarters, while a third hit a coast guard building in the Tawahi district.

Houthi spokesman Saree said the group’s forces had targeted Saudi-backed military gatherings at what he called Al-Nasr camp and a naval military base in Aden, saying Saudi officers were overseeing the mobilisation there.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition on that assertion.

Earlier on Oct 24, Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence briefly issued alerts warning residents of potential danger in Taif and Yanbu, as well as in the holy city of Mecca and the kingdom’s second-largest city, Jeddah.

About 10 minutes later, the agency said the threat had passed.

The Houthis warned airlines earlier this month against using Saudi airspace, exempting only the airspace over Mecca and Medina, as they intensified attacks on the kingdom. REUTERS