Houthi rebels have carried out another wave of attacks against Saudi oil facilities, as Yemen’s internationally backed government pledges to reclaim territory seized by the Iran-aligned movement.
Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said on Sunday that the group had targeted Saudi energy company Aramco with a ballistic missile and drones. The strikes reportedly focused on facilities in Riyadh and the Khurais oil-producing region in eastern Saudi Arabia.
Saree claimed the attacks had met their intended aims, saying the targets were hit accurately and that large fires broke out at the sites.
The reported assault came as Yemen’s leadership announced a fresh campaign to recover all areas held by the Houthis. The declaration followed a series of battlefield gains by the rebels that have left a government-controlled city increasingly surrounded.
For the struggling Yemeni government, the objective is a major challenge. Houthi forces recently seized significant parts of the country’s Red Sea coast, as well as territory close to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategically important passage used by international shipping, after launching a rapid offensive.
Despite military backing from Saudi Arabia, government forces have found it difficult to halt the Houthi advance. The rebels said Sunday that they had once again struck oil infrastructure near the Saudi capital.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s presidential council, announced the offensive, saying operations would begin to recover the republic’s remaining territory and restore state authority throughout the country.
He instructed Yemen’s armed forces to carry out their missions under existing operational plans, with the stated aim of freeing the country from what he described as the Houthi “terrorist militia”.
Flames and heavy black smoke were seen rising near an Aramco oil facility in Riyadh after the latest Houthi attack, intensifying concerns about a possible rise in oil prices worldwide
The refinery is operated by Saudi state-owned energy giant Aramco and is located south of Riyadh
Analysts warn that another Houthi strike on Saudi oil infrastructure could push global energy prices higher as tensions continue to simmer across the Middle East
Alimi’s announcement came only hours after Houthi fighters reportedly severed a key road connecting the besieged city of Taiz with Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, according to four security sources.
The development followed several days of intense clashes in and around Taiz.
A police source said authorities had been told that Houthi forces captured the al-Safiya area, blocking the main road and taking over a local police station.
Three Yemeni military sources also confirmed that the Houthis had taken control of the area and the vital route. Movement along the road had stopped, leaving the rebels in a position to encircle Taiz.
Military sources said clashes were continuing in the area.
Government forces still control Taiz, but Houthi fighters have surrounded the city from the north, east and west for years. It remains one of the most important battlefronts in Yemen’s protracted civil war.
Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, said the Houthis had achieved their immediate military aim by cutting Taiz off from Aden, even though they had not captured the city itself.
He also expressed doubts about the likely impact of the government’s planned counteroffensive.
“In my opinion, it’s meaningless,” Al-Muslimi said.
Following several years of relative calm, Yemen’s civil war reignited in July against the backdrop of the wider conflict in the Middle East.
It has also drawn in Saudi Arabia – leader of an anti-Houthi military coalition since 2015 – with the group regularly claiming attacks on the kingdom’s territory in recent weeks and declaring a blockade of its ships in the Red Sea.
Saudi oil exports were already under pressure thanks to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah reported Saudi strikes on Sunday in the northern governorates of al-Jawf and Saada, saying at least two people had been wounded.
They came a day after Yemen’s government said its forces struck Houthi targets around the country, including in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada and the group’s positions near Taiz in the south-west.
The Yemeni government’s air capabilities, however, are limited, and the Saudi-led coalition has long been the primary force carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis.
Experts believe the recent operations have most likely been conducted by Saudi warplanes as well.
On Saturday morning, thick black smoke and flames erupted around an oil refinery in the Saudi capital as the Houthis launched a fresh attack, furthering fears of escalating oil prices around the world.
SEE ALSO: Former SNL Star Spotted on Rare New York City Outing
Hours after the facility was struck on Saturday morning, the Saudi military launched counter-strikes on the Iran-backed group in Yemen.
The oil refinery belongs to state-owned oil giant Aramco, which is south of Riyadh. Neither the Houthis nor Saudi authorities have yet commented on the incident.
The circumstances remained unclear, though the Houthis have claimed several attacks on facilities belonging to Aramco, majority-owned by the Saudi state, in recent months.
Firefighters were seen attempting to extinguish the enormous flames at the energy giant’s Riyadh refinery, located to the south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed nearby.
The Houthis have recently launched several attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia in retaliation for Riyadh backing the internationally recognised government in Yemen’s ongoing civil war.
Experts say this latest incident could drive another spike in global energy prices.
Petrol and diesel have already risen rapidly, while natural gas – used for heating homes and generating electricity – has almost doubled in the UK and Europe since July.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea delivers a televised statement in Sanaa, Yemen
Notably, the Houthi strike came just a day after the G7 nations announced the release of diesel and crude stocks to ease surging fuel prices amid the simmering tensions.
The G7 – comprising France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – will deploy 100 million barrels of reserves over the next four months ‘with a frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days’, the group’s leaders said in a joint statement on Friday.
Within hours of the oil refinery being set alight on Saturday, Houthi rebels reported dozens of strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
The foes have traded attacks since the Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive.
In Sanaa, witnesses reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles on the city.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah channel 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 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.
Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis that has unspooled since the civil war broke out in 2014.
Houthi soldiers stand guard next to a sports hall building targeted by a previous Saudi-led airstrike, in Sanaa, Yemen, on October 3
That year the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa from the Saudi-backed government, before going on to take control of much of the country’s north, with Riyadh’s international coalition intervening the following year.
The renewed fighting has worsened the already appalling humanitarian conditions in Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries, with the World Food Programme warning on Friday that three-quarters of the population was unable to meet its basic food needs.
Fighting in recent days has centred on Taiz, where dozens of combatants were reported killed on Friday by sources on both sides.
The Houthis said 55 of their fighters had been killed while government sources reported 26 troops had died.
The battle for Taiz is taking place on several fronts, including highlands overlooking coastal areas recently seized by the Houthis.
While the Houthis have conquered swathes of territory, they have yet to wrest control of Taiz city, which is Yemen’s third-largest after Sanaa and Aden.
On Friday, the Houthis said Saudi Arabia had launched 94 strikes against areas under their control in the past 24 hours.
Saudi authorities meanwhile reported a Houthi projectile had damaged a school in the city of Najran near the Yemen border.
Riyadh has reportedly requested help from the United States, a call so far rebuffed by US President Donald Trump.
On Saturday, US media outlet Axios reported that top cabinet members in the Trump administration met the day before to discuss Yemen as well as the Iran conflict, citing three US officials. The meeting was not officially announced.
- Do YOU have a story? Email William.G.Hallowell@dailymail.co.uk
