Houthis declare Saudi airports and Aramco sites legitimate targets

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi airports and Aramco facilities are now legitimate targets and urged airlines, airport staff and civilians to stay away, as the Saudi-led coalition said it shot down a ballistic missile fired at Riyadh.

Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis, said airports in Saudi Arabia and facilities belonging to state oil giant Aramco have become "legitimate targets" for the group. He called on airlines, airport workers and civilians to leave those sites and said the attacks would continue until Saudi Arabia halts its military operations against Yemen.

In a statement on Wednesday, Saree claimed his forces had struck Aramco facilities in Dhahran in the Eastern Province, an Aramco refinery in Riyadh and King Khalid International Airport with a large number of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. He vowed that operations against Saudi airports and oil facilities would continue "in the coming days" and warned the kingdom of "severe consequences."

Coalition says ballistic missile intercepted over Riyadh

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile the Houthis fired toward Riyadh. Explosions were heard in the capital after alerts sounded there and in Al-Kharj governorate, and Saudi Civil Defense later said the danger had passed. The Houthi claims of hits on the airport and the refinery have not been independently confirmed.

On Tuesday, debris from two intercepted cruise missiles fell on Riyadh, injuring four people and lightly damaging 15 homes. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said at the time that a missile strike had caused a limited fire in an administrative building at Aramco’s Dhahran headquarters, while sources quoted by Reuters said the upper floors were badly damaged and the company’s operations continued.

Airlines suspend Riyadh flights

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh

The threats are weighing on civil aviation. Italy’s ITA Airways extended its suspension of Riyadh flights until Nov. 18, and several other foreign carriers have halted service to the capital’s airport. The French embassy in Riyadh urged its citizens to avoid the Saudi airports named by the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia has led a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2015, while the Houthis have held Sanaa and several provinces since 2014. Fighting escalated again in July after a 2022 truce collapsed. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, some hospitals in Yemen admitted more than 700 wounded in a single week, and more than 200,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks.

Houthis declare Saudi airports and Aramco sites legitimate targets