Houthis Confirm Strikes on Riyadh Airport and Aramco Oil Sites

Yemen's Houthis went public Sunday with a list of targets they say their fighters struck inside Saudi Arabia. According to spokesperson Yahya Saree, the operations hit Khalid International Airport, storage tanks and the financial center of state-owned energy giant Saudi Aramco in Riyadh, along with Aramco's Abqaiq facility. Saree announced the strikes in a post on X.

The group didn't stop at oil infrastructure. Saree said a third operation targeted Saudi troop concentrations under the command of officer Faris Al-Shammari east of Al-Jawf Governorate and in Madghal District, Marib Governorate. A fourth, he added, hit military camps led by officer Badr Al-Harbi in the Al-Madaribah area of Lahj Governorate. Both strikes, per Saree, left a large number of dead and wounded — figures that have not been independently verified.

Damage on the ground is already visible in the Saudi capital. AFP reported Sunday, citing three witnesses, that the Aramco Tower in Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District was hit. The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted several missiles fired toward the capital. The Houthis had claimed a day earlier that they targeted Saudi oil infrastructure, including the Abqaiq facility and the Ras Tanura refinery.

The exchange is cutting both ways. The Houthis said the death toll from recent Saudi-led coalition strikes on Yemen has climbed to at least 72, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent. They said the strikes mostly hit the Bani Hushaish area east of Sanaa and accused the coalition of targeting civilian facilities and infrastructure.

Riyadh's allies are closing ranks. Jordan's Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks on Riyadh and Aramco, calling the Houthis' continued strikes a flagrant violation of Saudi sovereignty and a threat to its security and stability, and voicing solidarity with the kingdom. The foreign ministries of Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Qatar also denounced the attacks.

Further out, shipping lanes are feeling the heat. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a delayed report of a tanker catching fire eight nautical miles northwest of Khasab, Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was evacuated, per military authorities, and UKMTO urged vessels in the area to stay alert while investigators work.