Yemen’s Houthis claimed an attack on an oil facility near the Saudi capital on Saturday, where an Agence France-Presse journalist saw flames and smoke, and accused the Gulf kingdom of striking Sanaa dozens of times.
The foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive last month.
Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting “Saudi aggression” against the Yemeni capital, without providing details on the targets or casualties.
Two correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles at the city.
In neighboring Saudi Arabia, flames and smoke were seen rising on Saturday afternoon from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh, an AFP journalist said.
While the Saudi authorities are yet to comment, late on Saturday, the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted an oil facility near Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, adding that they sparked fires at the targeted sites.
The AFP journalist reported seeing firefighters attempting to extinguish a blaze at Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed near the facility.
Sources familiar with the situation confirmed to CBS News that the attack took place, but said the Saudis are still assessing who is responsible.
The White House and U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday’s attack.
CBS News reported last week that the Houthis had expanded attacks into Saudi Arabia, targeting oil storage facilities at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu, while Saudi officials said a ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh was intercepted.
Meanwhile, the Houthis’ Al-Masirah channel earlier on Saturday also reported missile strikes on the telecommunications network in Yemen’s northwestern governorate of Saada, one of the group’s strongholds.
It comes after the Houthis said that Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni capital itself on Thursday night for the first time since renewed fighting broke out between the two sides in July.
CBS/AFP
