Houthi missiles target military base in Saudi Arabia as Iraq probes drone attack on oil pipeline - Middle East Eye
Yemen's Houthi group on Sunday claimed that it had launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on a Saudi military base, as fighting between the group and Riyadh-backed Yemeni government forces intensified.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the attack targeted the Sharurah base in southern Saudi Arabia, including “weapons depots and command and control centres that are managing the aggression against our nation and people”.
He said the strikes hit their targets and warned of bigger strikes deeper inside Saudi Arabia if attacks on Yemen continue.
The development came as clashes intensified between the Houthis and forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which are backed by Riyadh.
On Sunday, the Yemeni military said its air force had conducted three strikes against Houthi positions and barracks in the Taiz region.
“Air force of the armed forces targeted positions and barracks of the terrorist Houthi group with three air strikes,” in the Taiz region, the Yemeni military said in a post on X.
The military also carried out air raids, killing several Houthi fighters, the September Net website, affiliated with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, reported.
The latest escalation follows fighting in the Red Sea coastal city of Mocha and other parts of southwestern Yemen.
The Houthis have made significant territorial gains in western Yemen in recent days, while government forces have reported advances in the northern al-Jawf province near the Saudi border.
On Thursday, drones launched from Iraq hit the Saudi East-West oil pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions, according to Saudi authorities.
The pipeline, a vital artery that enables the kingdom to send oil to its western coast instead of via the Strait of Hormuz, was shut down as a precaution.
Saudi authorities later traced the launch site to Maysan province in southeast Iraq near the Iranian border, Al Jazeera reported.
The suspected site was in the border district of al-Tayeb near the Sheeb crossing, east of Amara, and comprised the Duwayrij River and Tayeb Island.
Al Jazeera said the distances involved, around 1,100km from Medina and 800km from Riyadh, suggested the attack probably involved “not tactical drones, but long-range, advanced ones”.
According to Al Jazeera, Baghdad has asked Saudi Arabia not to retaliate against Iraq.
Iraq’s security forces said they had found and confiscated a drone-launching platform allegedly used in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell head, Lieutenant General Saad Maan, said that a task force of security and intelligence forces had located the equipment used to launch the rockets.
According to Iraq's state-run Iraqi News Agency, forensic and technical teams were still looking into the platform and working to identify who was responsible.
Iraq’s commander-in-chief approved an Iranian request to join the investigation and review its findings, Maan said.
Baghdad, he said, was also in direct touch with the Saudi authorities to share intelligence.
“Iraq adopts the principle of ‘preventive sovereignty’, which means not only preventing attacks on our territory, but also not allowing our land to be a launching pad against any other country, or for Iraq to be part of a proxy war,” Maan told INA.
Iraqi authorities temporarily closed several border crossings with Iran, including Shalamcheh, Chazabeh and Mandali, for security inspections after the attack, before partially reopening them for humanitarian traffic.
The developments come as Iraq is pressed to prevent its territory from being used in attacks linked to the wider regional confrontation.
