Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have claimed a wave of ballistic missile, cruise missile and drone strikes on airports, an oil refinery and military sites across Saudi Arabia, and warned international airlines to stop flying through Saudi airspace.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on X that the group carried out three operations. The first, he said, hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and disrupted air traffic. The second targeted an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, on the Red Sea coast, where he claimed a fire broke out. The third struck Abha International Airport, the Khamis Mushait air base and a military camp in the southern Asir region, along with what he called sensitive sites in Najran and Jizan, near the Yemeni border.
In a further claim reported by the monitoring account OSINT613, Saree said ballistic missiles hit Saudi troop concentrations at the Da'arir camp in Jizan, leaving dozens dead and wounded, and that a missile strike disrupted flights at Abha.
Saree told international carriers that Saudi airspace has become "an operations zone for our forces." He exempted the skies over Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities.
None of the claims has been independently verified. The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a strong condemnation of what it called the terrorist Houthi militia's continued targeting of civilians and of civilian and economic facilities in the kingdom, including the holy cities, Riyadh, Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran. Riyadh has not confirmed any specific hits or reported casualties.
Saree said the strikes were retaliation for 60 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks over the previous 24 hours on Sanaa and the provinces of Al-Jawf, Taiz, Hajjah, Saada and Marib.
The airline warning is not the first. In July, after a Saudi strike on Sanaa airport, the Houthis fired on Abha airport and told carriers to stay out of Saudi airspace, in their first claimed attack on the kingdom since an informal truce took hold in March 2022. Last Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and four drones over the south, with debris damaging buildings and vehicles in residential parts of Khamis Mushait.
The escalation comes as the Houthis lose ground at home. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have launched a large-scale offensive aimed at retaking territory the group seized over 12 years of war. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan activated their Mecca defense pact for the first time, agreeing to deploy Turkish and Pakistani forces to the kingdom.
The Houthis have also repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Israel and attacked shipping in the Red Sea.
