Houthis claim strikes on Saudi airports, oil pipeline and refinery; Riyadh yet to confirm

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Saturday it had targeted a string of Saudi Arabian assets in the past 24 hours, including airports, an airbase, oil facilities and a crude pipeline, Reuters reported.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in two phases, as well as King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and Najran airport, and the Khamis Mushait airbase, according to Reuters. The group also said it had targeted crude oil pumping stations and the East-West pipeline, a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Rabigh refinery.

Saudi authorities have not confirmed the claimed strikes, Reuters reported. The claims, as reported, describe what the Houthis say they targeted, not independently verified damage.

Separately, the Saudi-led coalition said on Saturday it had intercepted two ballistic missiles fired towards the western Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu, and Saudi civil defence briefly warned residents in Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah of potential danger before withdrawing the alerts minutes later, Reuters reported.

The claim follows a sharp escalation in strikes on Saudi airports. An analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, published on Friday, found at least 21 attacks and attempted strikes had targeted six Saudi airports since mid-July, 17 of them after 5 October, People Daily reported. A Houthi attack on King Fahd International Airport near Dammam on 21 October killed two people and injured eight, according to the same report.

Sources

• Reuters, via Telegraph India: https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/yemens-houthis-claim-attacks-on-saudi-aramco-facility-riyadh-airport-and-oil-refinery/cid/2186086
• Reuters, via The Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/houthis-say-strikes-in-past-day-targeted-saudi-airports-oil-infrastructure-and-airbase/
• Reuters, via bdnews24: https://bdnews24.com/world/middle-east/oah687r7y2
• People Daily (ACLED analysis): https://peopledaily.digital/news/houthi-attacks-on-saudi-airports-and-oil-facilities-raise-risk-of-wider-middle-east-crisis-report