Riyadh: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis carried out one of the deadliest strikes against Saudi Arabia in recent times, leaving at least 73 people injured.
There were a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia’s civilian and economic sites. The Gulf kingdom’s energy ministry said multiple energy facilities and installations located within its southern province came under Houthi fire, as reported by NDTV.
The attacks came amid intensified fighting in Yemen between the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government and the Houthis. This is a counter-offensive to retake territory from the Houthi rebels.
The rebels have accused Riyadh of carrying out strikes, including the deadly bombardment of a prison in which 11 people were killed.
The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have claimed the missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia. The Iran-backed rebels said they hit Abha International Airport, King Khalid air base and facilities belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in Abha and Jizan, near their shared border.
Riyadh, meanwhile, vowed to respond firmly to the latest outbreak of hostilities. The strikes caused fires and temporary shutdowns, Saudi authorities and official media said. Videos posted on social media showed oil facilities in the kingdom under fire after being targeted by Houthi drones and missiles.
It was the worst attack by the Houthis since a four-year truce in Yemen’s long-running civil war unravelled in July.
“Saudi Arabia will “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty”, a foreign ministry statement said, demanding a halt to the Houthi strikes and their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
A Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting the Houthis on the government’s behalf since 2015, said it would respond to the latest attacks.
“The Terrorist Houthi Militia’s senseless attacks, the latest of which targeted civilian and economic sites”, resulted in injuries to 73 civilians, said the coalition’s Joint Forces Command.
“The Command will also take all necessary measures and actions to respond to the sources of the threat and neutralise its danger.”
According to an energy ministry source quoted by the Saudi Press Agency, “several energy sector facilities and installations in the southern region of the kingdom were targeted this morning”.
“The attacks caused fires at several locations, leading to a temporary halt in some operations” as well as several injuries, the source was quoted as saying.
The Houthis have been launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia since it declared a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting its vessels in the Red Sea.
The latest escalation was “dangerous”, as the Houthis attacked civilian and economic entities in the world’s largest oil exporter and de facto OPEC leader, the spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Tuesday.
“The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia and resolutely confront its hostile approach,” Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on X.
