EPA

 

 

Missiles and drones have been intercepted over Riyadh after the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen struck a fuel depot near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, its spokesperson says.

Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said several projectiles targeting the Saudi capital and other cities were intercepted after the coalition carried out a strike on the Yemen Petroleum Company's al-Sabaha facility on Tuesday night.

The Houthis warned they would target the airport and Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, and Aramco's headquarters in the eastern city of Dammam.

Al-Maliki later said missiles targeting cities including Dammam had been intercepted, while shrapnel had fallen in a residential area in Dhahran.

An Armaco administration building in Dhahran was also targeted, resulting in "limited fire", Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy said in a statement.

No casualties were reported, the statement said.

It came as the Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Iran-backed group would "bear the consequences" of its recent deadly attacks on the kingdom.

Thirteen people were killed when a missile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, while another person was killed in a similar attack there the following day.

On Tuesday, the coalition said its forces had destroyed three drones north of Riyadh.

The Houthis have said they are targeting airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones in response to deadly Saudi strikes on territory that they control in western Yemen, including Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Yemeni pro-government forces mounting an offensive on Yemen's Red Sea coast and several other front lines.

A correspondent for AFP news agency reported that queues formed at petrol stations in Sanaa on Tuesday afternoon following the coalition's warning of an impending operation against the al-Sabaha oil facility, with many residents worried about shortages.

The Yemen Petroleum Company, which is run by the Houthis, issued a statement that sought to reassure them, saying the facility "does not contain any stock of petroleum products".

The company also said it had "taken all necessary precautionary measures to address any emergency, ensuring the stability of the supply situation and the continued meeting of citizens' needs in a normal manner".

After al-Maliki confirmed the strike, first reported by Houthi media, explosions were heard over Riyadh and other Saudi cities, with al-Maliki reporting four missiles and two drones had been intercepted near the capital.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognised government from Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened in an attempt to restore the government's rule.

A four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July, when the Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said they were retaliating for what they call a Saudi blockade of their territory, as well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom.

The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen's south-western Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a chokepoint for global shipping. Their advance contributed to a rise in oil prices following six months of war between the US, Israel and Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday the Houthis were "behaving very badly... and purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices".

Speaking to reporters, he did not answer a question on whether he'd made a decision to help the Saudis retaliate against them, but said he "might" ask Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to intervene.

Last week, pro-government forces said they had regained control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counter-offensive with the support of Saudi air strikes.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed in Yemen since August. The UN's human rights office says they include at least 54 civilians, half of them children.

More than 216,000 people have also been displaced across the country, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks, rising from 217 to 647, according to the UN.

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/David Gritten and Angus Thompson