Houthis claim attacks on Riyadh, Aramco facility in Yanbu

Yemen’s Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, claimed on September 25 that it had attacked a strategic site in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh and targeted a facility belonging to state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.

The group said the attacks were carried out using missiles and drones, according to its Al-Masirah television channel.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the weapons had reached their intended targets. He said the operations were conducted in retaliation for what the group described as Saudi “aggression” against Yemen and the blockade of the country.

The claims were not immediately independently verified, and Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm that the reported attacks on Riyadh and the Aramco facility had taken place. Saudi Arabia did, however, say its air defences had intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward the western cities of Taif and Yanbu.

Saree also claimed that Saudi Arabia had carried out 1,018 attacks on Yemeni territory since the latest escalation began. He alleged that civilians had been killed in Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks.

The Houthi spokesman warned that the group would respond to every attack on its territory.

“Every attack will be met with a response. Every escalation will be met with a response of the same kind,” Saree said, according to the group’s statement.

The latest escalation in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, which has continued since 2014, intensified in early July as the sides resumed reciprocal attacks and Houthi forces launched an offensive inside Yemen.

By mid-September, the group had consolidated its position in western Yemen and gained control of areas along the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key maritime passage linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Recent fighting has raised concerns over the security of an important alternative route for Saudi oil exports amid disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

By Tamilla Hasanova