SANAA/RIYADH – Yemen's Houthi group said Thursday evening that it had launched missile and drone attacks at a "sensitive target" in the Saudi capital Riyadh and an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, marking another round of long-range attacks amid an escalating confrontation with Saudi Arabia.
In a televised statement aired by Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the Houthi armed forces carried out two separate operations, one targeting a site in Riyadh and the other targeting an Aramco facility in Yanbu.
Sarea said the attacks were carried out with "a number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones", claiming that both operations "successfully achieved their objectives". He did not identify the target in Riyadh or provide details of any damage or casualties.
There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the two claimed strikes, and the Houthi account could not be independently verified.
Sarea said the attacks were launched in response to continuing Saudi air and missile strikes against Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
He claimed Saudi forces had carried out a total of 1,018 air and missile strikes since the latest escalation began, causing civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
The Houthi spokesperson vowed that the group would continue retaliatory operations as long as Saudi military action continued, reiterating what he described as an "escalation for escalation" policy.
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The fresh announcement came only hours after the Houthis claimed a separate large-scale missile and drone operation against Saudi military positions in the southwestern border region of Jazan. Sarea said the strikes "killed or wounded hundreds of Saudi and allied troops".
The latest Houthi claims also followed an announcement by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition earlier Thursday that its air defenses had intercepted and destroyed six ballistic missiles, thwarting attempts to strike Taif and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia.
Sarea said the operation targeted command and control centers, weapons depots and troop gatherings in the Al-Tuwal area of Jazan, near the border with Yemen.
The Houthi spokesperson said the operation involved "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" targeting command positions of what he described as the "Sixth Emergency Military Division" in the Al-Tuwal area, along with missile launch sites and platforms at the Al-Daghareer camp and other military facilities across Jazan.
He claimed the strikes were "precise and direct, killing or wounding hundreds" of Saudi military reinforcements, including Yemeni and Sudanese personnel, as well as dozens of Saudi soldiers and officers.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the attack, and the casualty figures could not be independently verified.
The latest exchanges underscore the widening confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, with both sides stepping up long-range attacks in recent weeks alongside intensified ground fighting in Yemen.
Yemen's conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
Six Houthi ballistic missiles intercepted
In posts on social media platform X on Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition's spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said six ballistic missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi group targeting the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu had been intercepted and destroyed.
Al-Maliki said the coalition's air defenses thwarted an attempt to target Taif and Yanbu.
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"The escalation and violations by the Houthi group would be dealt with firmly," he added.
