Houthis claim strikes on Saudi refinery, ministry

Houthis claim strikes on Saudi refinery, ministry

• Saudi authorities confirm interceptions, report shrapnel damage in capital RIYADH: Yemen’s Houthis said they fired missiles at Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil refinery and defence ministry on Tuesday, as shrapnel from interceptions caused damage in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter of crude, has suffered weeks of strikes by the Houthis against oil and civilian sites, including Riyadh’s international airport. The Houthis said they fired ballistic missiles at the defence ministry in Riyadh and the Ras Tanura refinery on Saudi’s eastern coast among a series of attacks on Tuesday. “Our armed forces targeted the Ministry of Defence in the enemy Saudi capital, Riyadh, with a ballistic missile and the hit was direct,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said. The Houthis were also “able to target the Ras Tanura refinery in the Eastern Province with a ballistic missile”, he said in a separate post, adding the strike caused “massive fires”. Saudi authorities did not comment on specific targets but said they shot down missiles over Riyadh and the Eastern Province. AFP correspondents in Riyadh heard explosions on Tuesday. A text message alert warned residents to seek shelter as blasts rattled windows in the city centre. Saudi authorities said they shot down two ballistic missiles launched towards the capital, with shrapnel hitting a building, a construction project and a car. Three Houthi missiles fired towards Eastern Province were also intercepted, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis said. ‘Very loud bang’ A resident in the city of Al Khobar, south of the Ras Tanura complex, said he heard explosions around dawn and received a text message alert. “We got the alert on the mobile and then heard a very loud bang,” the resident said. Maritime security agency Vanguard said a fire was reported in the Ras Tanura area in the early hours of Tuesday after an attack. “The fire has reportedly been contai­ned, while the extent of damage and any impact on oil-loading operations remain unclear at current,” Vanguard said. The Ras Tanura facility along Saudi Ar­a­bia’s Gulf coast is home to one of the Mid­dle East’s largest refineries and is a cor­­nerstone of the kingdom’s energy sector. The complex, with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, has been repeatedly targeted by strikes blamed on Iran, including a March drone attack that forced a partial shutdown of the refinery. Also on Tuesday, the Houthis said they had also launched ballistic missiles at two military transport aircraft in southern Saudi Arabia. Saree said they targeted the aircraft “with ballistic missiles, one at Najran airport and the other at (King) Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait”, while also aiming a drone at Abha airport. Egypt ‘declared war’ Earlier, a Houthi official said the Egyptian parliament’s decision to authorise defensive military support for Saudi Arabia amounted to a declaration of war. Parliament authorised the measure on Monday, following a request from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “It is truly remarkable that while these people go to discuss what they call ‘peace in the region’, Egypt and its parliament declare support for the so-called defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in doing so, declare war against the Republic of Yemen,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, in a Telegram post. It was not clear exactly what support was on offer from Egypt, which has the Arab world’s largest military. Al-Houthi’s statement also pointed to Monday’s visit to Tehran by the Saudi def­ence minister, Pakistan’s army chief and Turkiye’s intelligence chief, in a bid to de- escalate tensions in the Middle East war. Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad recently signed a Nato-style defence pact in Makkah, pledging to consider an attack on one country as an attack on all three. Turkiye and Pakistan have not ann­o­u­nced any strikes on the Houthis during the group’s weeks of attacks on Saudi Arabia. Al-Houthi said the group was “not afraid of any alliance that may be formed”. Yemen’s largely dormant conflict reignited in July, further destabilising the region months into the war between the United States and Iran. The Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, territory and oil facilities, before seizing swathes of Red Sea coastline in a major offensive in September. The Houthis have in turn reported frequent Saudi strikes targeting areas under their control. Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026