Houthis claim strike on Aramco site as Yemen fighting intensifies

Spokesman for Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government says the Houthi claims of targeting Riyadh are ‘misleading’.Yemen’s Houthis have said they attacked an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Yemen’s Saudi-backed internationally recognised government intensifies.In a statement posted on X on Saturday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had carried out a “military operation with ballistic missiles and drones” that targeted Aramco in Riyadh.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Are Houthis using new modified cruise missiles in Yemen’s war?list 2 of 3Yemen’s war disrupts roads and ports, deepening humanitarian crisislist 3 of 3Saudi Arabia not to compromise on security as Houthis choose ‘chaos’: MBSend of listHe claimed the strikes were “precise and direct” and “led to fires breaking out” at the site. A large plume of smoke and fire was seen rising near an Aramco facility in Riyadh on Saturday.Later on Saturday, Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government, said in remarks carried by Saudi media that the Houthi claims of targeting Riyadh were “misleading”.Early on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said its armed forces carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, the spokesman for Yemen’s government forces, said the attacks targeted “at least 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles”.Late last month, the Houthis said they had attacked Aramco facilities in Yanbu, a Red Sea port on Saudi Arabia’s west coast.Saudi Arabia said at the time it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired towards Taif and Yanbu and reported no damage to Aramco sites.Earlier this week, the Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis attacked a power station in the Muslim holy city of Medina on Tuesday.