Houthis Claim Riyadh Strikes as Yemen Fighting Escalates

RIYADH: (News Desk) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday claimed they had launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes targeting Riyadh’s international airport, an Aramco refinery and several other locations.

The claims came as the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government said it had carried out strikes against Houthi military targets along the Red Sea coast.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and Turkey pledged to deploy military forces to Saudi Arabia under a new mutual defence agreement amid escalating Houthi attacks and a major Saudi-backed offensive aimed at reclaiming territory held by the group.

The Yemeni military said it had conducted more than 1,000 strikes as government forces launched an offensive towards Houthi-held Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition also said around 100 warplanes carried out sorties at dawn.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki said on X that naval forces had struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

He said the strikes destroyed weapons depots, facilities used to store booby-trapped boats and naval mines, while also thwarting an alleged planned attack against maritime routes in the southern Red Sea.

Loud explosions were reported in Riyadh on Monday evening as fighting intensified. A Houthi spokesman subsequently claimed that the group had targeted King Khalid International Airport, an Aramco refinery and other sites in southern Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-backed government announced on Sunday an ambitious objective of retaking all territory controlled by the Houthis, much of which has remained under their control for more than a decade and is home to a large portion of Yemen’s population.

Last month, the Iran-backed Houthis seized sections of coastline along the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategically important maritime passage used for global oil and cargo shipments.

The group has also continued attacks against Saudi Arabia and declared a maritime blockade targeting Saudi-linked shipping.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey held an emergency meeting in Riyadh under a joint defence agreement signed in August. The pact commits the three countries to assist one another in the event of an attack.

The countries agreed to take necessary measures to provide agreed military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in Saudi Arabia. The statement, however, did not specify the precise role of the troops.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern over the sharp escalation in fighting and condemned continued Houthi cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia.

Global Oil System Under Pressure

The conflict has also raised concerns over global energy supplies, with Houthi attacks targeting Saudi oil infrastructure and vessels operating in the Red Sea.

A source in Saudi Arabia’s energy sector told AFP that a Sunday attack again disrupted pumping operations on the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, an important route for Saudi oil exports following Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Global crude prices had already risen sharply amid the wider Middle East conflict before the Houthis intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser warned on Monday that global oil inventories had become dangerously low because of the ongoing conflict.

“The system is already straining,” Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.

Mokha Fighting Intensifies

Elsewhere, Yemeni pro-government forces reportedly recaptured the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha from the Houthis following heavy fighting, state news agency SABA reported.

The Nation’s Shield Forces, Southern Giants Brigades and Tihama Resistance, backed by the Popular Resistance, took control of the city with air support, according to a military source cited by SABA.

The source said Houthi forces had controlled Mokha, located in western Taiz province, since early September.

Heavy clashes were reported around several positions near the city, with various types of weapons used during the fighting. The source claimed a number of Houthi fighters were killed or wounded.

Government forces also reportedly captured several Houthi fighters, while others withdrew from the area. No figures for casualties or prisoners were provided.

Yemeni military sources separately said government forces had cut the only supply route to Houthi-held Mokha, but had not immediately confirmed an official announcement regarding the city’s recapture.

Yemen’s long-running civil war has become an increasingly active front in the wider Middle East conflict in recent weeks. According to UN figures, more than 184,000 people have been displaced by the latest fighting.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, with Saudi Arabia intervening in March 2015. A ceasefire reached in 2022 largely paused major fighting until hostilities resumed in July this year.