Sanaa, Oct 14 (IANS) Yemen’s Houthi group said Wednesday it had launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting an airport and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, vowing to continue strikes against Saudi targets in the coming days.
In a statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group targeted Saudi energy giant Aramco in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, as well as King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh.
According to Sarea, the operation involved “a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” which accurately hit their targets, causing damage and fires.
The Houthi spokesperson said the operation was carried out in retaliation for Saudi Arabia-led strikes on the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa and other areas under the group’s control. He said Saudi-led forces had carried out 2,281 air and missile strikes since the latest escalation began, Xinhua news agency reported.
Sarea vowed that the group’s attacks “deep inside Saudi Arabia” would continue in the coming days, targeting airports and oil facilities. He also renewed a warning to international airlines, civilians and employees to stay away from airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that the group had designated as targets.
The Houthi claim came after the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it intercepted six Houthi missiles and three drones heading towards Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. An Aramco administrative building in Dhahran was targeted Tuesday evening, sparking a limited fire, while debris from two cruise missiles intercepted over Riyadh injured four people and damaged 15 homes, Saudi authorities said Wednesday.
The latest Houthi operations followed a series of Saudi-led coalition strikes on Tuesday targeting the Yemen Petroleum Company’s Al-Sabaha fuel storage and distribution facility west of Sanaa, as well as fuel facilities in the Red Sea province of Hodeidah.
Cross-border hostilities have intensified sharply in recent days. A Houthi attack on a passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday killed 12 people and injured 309 others, according to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation. The Saudi-led coalition subsequently vowed a firm response to the attack.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. Major hostilities had largely subsided following a UN-brokered truce in 2022, before the latest fighting led to a sharp escalation in ground battles and cross-border missile, drone and air attacks.
–IANS
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