Yemen’s Houthis claim strikes on Saudi airports, Aramco sites

Yemeni Iran-backed Houthi forces announced that they have carried out six attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports, oil sites and military installations, despite diplomatic efforts at the normalisation of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The strikes were also carried out on a terminal belonging to Ras Tanura, which is an oil refinery operated by Aramco in Abqaiq, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, the Rabigh refinery and a Saudi military headquarters in the region of Najran, according to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, Al Jazeera reported.

According to the group, it used ballistic missiles and drones in the attacks, claiming it was a response to Saudi military operations against Yemen over the past week.

But there was no independent verification of the six targets having been struck.

The statement was released after the coalition said that the kingdom’s air defences had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired in the direction of Riyadh. Saudi Civil Defence reported that falling shrapnel wounded one person and caused damage to a house and a car.

The attacks came just days after a meeting between Iranian, Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani officials in Tehran, held for the first time in many years, in which they explored regional security and measures to curb military build-ups.

The fresh escalation of violence could also pose a risk to regional stability and energy infrastructure at a time when disruptions to global oil supplies have been heightened global concern.