Houthis claim strikes on Riyadh, Yanbu while Saudi coalition says attacks thwarted - Middle East Eye

Saudi-led coalition forces say air defences intercepted a Houthi missile fired at Riyadh, hours after the group claimed the strikes.

Riyadh came under missile and drone fire on Saturday, according to Yemen's Houthis, who claimed responsibility for strikes on what they called "sensitive" sites in the Saudi capital and on Aramco facilities in the coastal city of Yanbu.  The coalition's spokesperson, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said air defences intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired at Riyadh, and thwarted separate attempts to target Taif, Baish, Farasan and Yanbu before they reached their targets.

He accused the Houthis of escalating efforts to target civilians and civilian infrastructure, and said the coalition reserves the right to take "appropriate measures" against the group under international humanitarian law.

Saudi authorities had issued an early-morning alert telling residents to shelter indoors, the first such warning in this latest round of fighting with the Houthis.

Hours later, several people in Riyadh told AFP they heard a series of explosions echo across the city.

Around the same time, firefighters extinguished a fire at a fuel depot near Riyadh's airport, where a tanker bearing the Aramco logo had caught fire. Footage circulating online showed smoke rising nearby.

It was not immediately clear whether the airport fire was connected to the reported strikes.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the strikes were "in response to the Saudi enemy's criminal attempts to target the capital Sanaa", confirming that Houthi forces had hit targets in both Riyadh and Yanbu using a mix of missiles and drones.

The attacks come amid rapid Houthi territorial gains in recent weeks, which have left Yemen's Saudi-backed government on the back foot despite a sustained Saudi air campaign against Houthi-held areas.

Days earlier, Saudi officials had accused the Houthi group of attempting to strike Mecca, calling it a "cowardly terrorist attack" on the city that draws millions of Muslim pilgrims each year. The Houthis rejected the claim as false.

The group says it faces near-constant Saudi bombardment as it pushes to seize full control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, a campaign that would hand it the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a major global shipping route.

The kingdom's recently signed defence pacts with Turkey and Pakistan have done little to counter the growing Houthi threat.

Later on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the reported attacks on Saudi territory and oil infrastructure, saying the kingdom should be "kept out" of the broader conflict between Iran and the United States. He also added that Saudi Arabia may have military needs due to the ongoing Houthi attacks and that Turkey was ready to help under the trilateral defence pact.

Pakistan has said that there were no discussions about a military reaction from Islamabad under the Mecca agreement in response to the Houthis' attacks, but added that they would act when the "time comes".

The US, on the other hand, has been offering the kingdom only limited support of its own, as the American news outlet Axios reported last week that Washington turned down a Saudi request to strike the Houthis directly.

Still, on Thursday, the US approved a $24.3bn sale of F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom, saying the deal would help Riyadh "deter current and future threats", according to the State Department.

The war in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and other regions, leading to a Saudi-led intervention in March 2015.

A fragile 2022 truce held for years before collapsing in July, after the Houthis defied Saudi control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian aircraft to land in the country.

The Houthis' recent seizure of Yemen's coastline has raised widespread international concern, adding to disruption in global maritime trade already caused by Iran's blockade of Hormuz.

The group insists shipping in the sea lane faces no threat, except for vessels linked to Saudi Arabia.

Facing limited outside backing, Saudi Arabia has been putting in an effort to expand its own military role in Yemen.