Houthis threaten further attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities

• The Houthis pledged more strikes, describing Saudi airports and oil facilities as targets for retaliation.
• Sources reported extensive damage at Aramco’s Dhahran headquarters, while Saudi officials described a limited fire.
• Intensifying fighting in Yemen has strained hospitals and blocked aid to more than 600,000 people in Taiz.

Yemen’s Houthis threatened on Wednesday to continue attacking Saudi airports and oil facilities, raising fears of further escalation after a strike on Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran reportedly caused extensive damage.

The group described the facilities as legitimate targets and said its attacks were retaliation for Saudi military operations in Yemen. The renewed fighting has unfolded amid the US-Iran confrontation in the Gulf.

In their statement, the Houthis claimed they had used ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones to target Aramco facilities in Dhahran, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and an Aramco refinery in the Saudi capital. They also called on international shipping companies, civilians and workers to leave Saudi airports and oil installations.

Three people familiar with Tuesday night’s attack told Reuters that a fire at Aramco’s Dhahran headquarters spread across several floors. Their account differed from the Saudi energy ministry’s statement, which described the blaze as limited.

Two of the sources said Aramco’s operations were continuing normally, with employees working from home. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Dhahran complex houses a major operations centre overseeing Aramco’s extensive network of onshore and offshore oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals.

Saudi Arabia has faced an expanding series of Houthi attacks over the past week. A strike on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Saturday killed 13 people, making it the deadliest attack in the kingdom in a decade.

The airport has been targeted four times, and authorities have closed it until October 17. Airlines have also cancelled flights to Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile heading towards Riyadh. Several loud booms were heard in the capital, although their cause was not immediately established.

A witness said Saudi authorities issued an alert warning of a possible aerial threat before lifting it. Authorities did not immediately explain the sounds, and the Saudi government’s media office did not respond to a request for comment.

The widening conflict has added pressure to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil.

The Houthis say their campaign is a response to Saudi support for Yemeni government forces in the war, which resumed last month.

Saudi Arabia first intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to support the government after the Houthis seized Sanaa. The kingdom was concerned about growing Iranian influence and instability along its borders.

A UN-brokered truce in 2022 maintained a fragile period of calm until this year. Saudi Arabia resumed its military campaign in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government after the Houthis made rapid gains last month, advancing along the Red Sea coast towards the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The renewed fighting has also worsened humanitarian conditions. The Red Cross said on Wednesday that hospitals across Yemen were struggling with a sharp increase in war casualties as clashes intensified on several fronts.

The UN World Food Programme said access to life-saving assistance had been cut off in the government-held city of Taiz, which Houthi fighters surrounded earlier this month.

According to the agency, WFP and its partners cannot reach more than 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance in Taiz, including over 200,000 women and children.