Houthis strike deeper into Saudi Arabia as Riyadh intercepts missile

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen said they launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at Riyadh and Saudi oil facilities on Saturday, pushing attacks deep into Saudi territory as the wider U.S.-Iran war continues to disrupt regional shipping and energy flows.

Saudi authorities said their air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh at dawn. The Saudi-led coalition said Houthi forces also tried to target civilians and civilian infrastructure in Bisha, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu, and that those attacks were thwarted.

A fire broke out at a fuel depot near King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital. An Agence France-Presse journalist saw firefighters extinguish a blaze on a fuel tank bearing the logo of Saudi oil giant Aramco, and footage verified by AFP showed black smoke rising above airport buildings. Saudi authorities did not confirm casualties.

The BBC reported that flights at King Khalid International Airport were temporarily disrupted, with FlightRadar24 listing delays and cancellations and at one point reporting major problems at the airport. Normal traffic later began to resume, according to CBS News.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram that the group had carried out “two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.” He said “the first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”

Saree said the attacks were “in response to the Saudi enemy’s criminal attempts” to target Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. He did not specify what sites in Riyadh were targeted. Yanbu, on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, is more than 700 miles from the Yemeni border, as is Riyadh, underscoring the expanding range of Houthi strikes.

Saudi Civil Defence had sent phone alerts overnight warning of potential danger in Riyadh and other regions before issuing an all-clear Saturday morning. Residents told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that they heard explosions after the alerts. “I heard the alarm, then my windows shook,” a 27-year-old resident of northern Riyadh told AFP. “It was definitely scary. I was not expecting this.”

The Houthis are fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. In recent weeks, the group has expanded its offensive, seizing territory including parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. The BBC reported that the Houthis recently took control of the strategic port city of Mokha and Perim Island, a gateway to a key shipping route used by Gulf states for exports to Asia and Europe.

The attacks have added pressure to regional shipping. CBS News reported that Saudi Arabia has been drawn further into the conflict after the Houthis began targeting Saudi-flagged oil tankers exiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in solidarity with Iran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video released Saturday that the U.S. military has escorted 1 billion barrels of oil and more than 2,000 commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf in recent months.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Saudi Arabia should not be pulled into the U.S.-Iran war. “We do not accept Saudi Arabia being made a part of the ongoing conflict between Iran and America,” Fidan told Turkish broadcaster NTV. “Saudi Arabia should be kept outside this equation because they themselves are not seeking to become involved in it.”

The BBC, citing an unconfirmed AFP report based on military sources on both sides of Yemen’s civil war, said fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces killed 48 people Saturday. The International Organization for Migration said Friday that recent fighting had displaced more than 104,796 people.