Houthis launch missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities in retaliation for Hodeida strikes
The Houthi movement said it fired missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco sites in Yanbu and Jizan, citing recent Saudi airstrikes on Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, while Saudi civil defense reported alerts in the two Red Sea cities.
Yemen’s Houthi movement announced that it launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s Aramco facilities in the Red Sea ports of Yanbu and Jizan, saying the strikes were retaliation for Saudi air attacks on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida. > Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman, said the operation targeted the oil company’s installations in a prerecorded statement on Saturday. Saudi civil defence confirmed that alerts sounded multiple times early Saturday in both Yanbu and Jizan, but did not provide details on any damage. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said its Friday strikes hit “legitimate military targets” in Hodeida province, including the city’s port and a state-run telecommunications facility, and injured two people. The attacks come amid heightened tension in the Red Sea, where the Houthis have warned they could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint that handles about 12% of global trade. Iran’s foreign minister called for diplomatic solutions to the Yemen conflict, while U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the latest Houthi attacks. The broader regional context includes ongoing confrontations between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, with recent U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and Iranian retaliatory actions against Gulf Arab states.