Yemen’s Houthis said Wednesday they will resume attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities “in the coming days,” after Saudi authorities reported a limited fire at Aramco’s office complex in Dhahran during a Houthi missile attack Tuesday night. The Houthis claimed strikes on Aramco facilities in Dhahran, an Aramco refinery in Riyadh and King Khalid International Airport. The Houthis called the sites legitimate targets and urged international shipping companies, civilians and workers to evacuate Saudi airports and oil facilities.
Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi-led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, said a ballistic missile aimed at Dhahran on Tuesday was intercepted and destroyed, and that debris from the interception fell on a residential area. Three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the fire at the Dhahran complex spread across several floors. Two of them said operations at Aramco were continuing normally, with employees working from home. Two regional officials told the Associated Press that the top three floors of a building used by senior Aramco executives were damaged. One official said the CEO’s office was among those hit.
Earlier on Wednesday, the coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh, and several loud booms were heard in the capital, Reuters reported. A witness told Reuters that authorities issued an alert for a possible aerial threat and then lifted it. Saudi Civil Defence said debris from two missiles intercepted Tuesday injured four people, including a child, and damaged 15 homes in Riyadh, according to the AP.
In response, Saudi-led forces have struck oil sites in western Yemen that the coalition said supply the Houthis. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said two people were killed in a Tuesday airstrike on the Ras Isa port area in Hodeida province. Yemen Petroleum Co. said its Al Sabah facilities and a refueling station in Sanaa were hit.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has been attacked four times since the start of the war. Saturday’s strike killed 13 people. AP put the toll from multiple strikes at the airport in the past week at least 18 killed and more than 300 hurt. Authorities have closed the airport until Oct. 17, and airlines have canceled flights to Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump posted Tuesday that “The Houthis are behaving very badly” and wrote, “I’ll be there after the elections, and I will never forget!” Bloomberg reported that the post said the group was “purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices” at Iran’s direction before the Nov. 3 midterms. The AP reported that Trump has said he is evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes on the Houthis.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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