Houthi rebels claim attack on Saudi oil facility in Riyadh

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a fire that broke out at an Aramco oil refinery in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday.

If true, it would be the latest in a series of attacks on Saudi facilities.

Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier Yahya Saree said that the alleged attack was in response to the "unjust siege and the launching of aggressive airstrikes" from Saudi territory.

”The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation using several ballistic missiles and drones, targeting Aramco in the capital of the Saudi enemy, Riyadh," Saree said in a statement posted on social media. "The operation successfully achieved its objective, by the grace of God. The strikes were accurate and direct, resulting in fires breaking out at the targeted sites.”

A major escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iranian-backed Houthis has revived Yemen’s civil war. The Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government said it carried out operations against Houthi militia early on Sunday, killing hundreds of fighters.

”We will continue to impose the equation of “siege for siege” and “escalation for escalation,” Saree said, "and to target the Saudi enemy’s military mobilisations until the aggression stops and the siege on our beloved country is lifted.”

The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government has called the statement “misleading.” The rebels claimed a separate attack last month on an Aramco facility in Yanbu but Riyadh said it had intercepted the missiles and no damage was reported.

In recent weeks, renewed violence in the country has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.

The Houthis captured the strategic city of Mokha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach to the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It was the Houthis’ biggest land grab in years and ended a 2022 ceasefire that largely stopped major fighting in Yemen’s 12-year civil war.