Houthis claim Aramco strike near Riyadh as Yemen fighting intensifies
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they hit an Aramco site near the Saudi capital with missiles and drones as coalition forces reported dozens of strikes on Houthi lines in Taiz.
What we know: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they attacked an Aramco facility in or near Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones over the Oct. 3–4 weekend, Al Jazeera and The National reported. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement posted Saturday on X that a “military operation with ballistic missiles and drones” targeted Aramco in Riyadh, claiming the strikes were “precise and direct” and “led to fires breaking out,” Al Jazeera reported.
AFP images and reporting showed flames and thick black smoke at an Aramco facility south of Riyadh on Saturday, with firefighters on scene and ambulances and police reportedly nearby, Al Jazeera and ABC News said. As of Saturday evening into early Sunday, Saudi authorities had not confirmed an attack, and Aramco had not commented on the cause of the fire, those outlets reported.
Saudi-led coalition response: Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki — also spelled Maj. Gen. Turki Al Malki — called Houthi claims of targeting Riyadh “misleading” and said the Houthis were seeking “illusory victories” amid losses in Taiz, The National and Al Jazeera reported. Early Sunday, the coalition said armed forces carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers, The National said.
Col. Majed Abdullah al-Nazili — also rendered Al Nuzaili — a Yemen government forces spokesman, said the operations targeted or neutralized at least 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles, and that “painful strikes” hit Houthi targets in Sanaa and Saada, The National reported.
How the front got here: Fighting has intensified since a fragile 2022 truce collapsed in July. In mid-September the Houthis seized Mocha and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb before anti-Houthi forces stabilized fronts, with hundreds of thousands displaced, Al Jazeera and ABC News reported. The World Food Programme said Friday that 74% of households in accessible areas of Taiz governorate could not meet basic food needs — the highest share this year, Al Jazeera said. Late last month the Houthis claimed attacks on Aramco at Yanbu; Saudis said they intercepted missiles and reported no damage then, the outlets noted. Reuters, cited by The National, has reported Riyadh weighing a broader offensive against the backdrop of wider Middle East tensions and the Iran–U.S. conflict.
What this means: A claimed strike on energy infrastructure near the Saudi capital — still unverified by Riyadh or Aramco — lands as Yemen’s ground war hardens and food insecurity in Taiz worsens, keeping regional energy and security risks in close view.