Yemen's Houthis claim attacks on Saudi oil, aviation, military targets

Sanaa, Oct 30 : Yemen's Houthi group said it had launched six missile and drone attacks against oil facilities, airports and a military position across Saudi Arabia. 

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement broadcast by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV that three ballistic missile attacks targeted the Ras Tanura refinery and Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq, both in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and the Rabigh refinery on the country's Red Sea coast, reports Xinhua news agency.

Two other operations targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh with missiles, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam in the Eastern Province with a drone, Sarea added, claiming the latter disrupted air traffic.

Another operation struck what Sarea described as a command center for Saudi military forces in the southern border region of Najran. He claimed the attack caused casualties among soldiers and officers.

Sarea said the attacks were launched in response to recent Saudi strikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen.

Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi group toward the Saudi capital Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday evening, while the Houthis said 27 people were killed in Saudi airstrikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen.

Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition said that Saudi air defenses had intercepted three Houthi ballistic missiles, two toward Riyadh and one toward the Eastern Province.

The latest strikes came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with the two sides exchanging cross-border attacks in recent weeks.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.