A limited fire broke out Tuesday in an administrative building at Aramco, one of the world's largest oil facilities, that was targeted in an attack in the country's Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy said. The ministry said no injuries were reported.
The attack came as the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi coalition fighting them exchanged attacks Tuesday night. The fighting marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis and came shortly after the Saudi coalition reported a series of alerts for incoming missiles heading for the Eastern Province, a major oil-producing region, and the capital Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell on residential areas in Riyadh, injuring four people and damaging 15 homes.
The coalition of forces in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia carried out new airstrikes Tuesday on the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and residents said.
The strikes came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety. Witnesses reported hearing strong explosions in Sanaa hours after the coalition struck the Subaha fuel facility west of the city.
In a rare statement earlier, the coalition had urged civilians in the Houthi-controlled capital to leave the Yemeni Oil Company site, on a hill overlooking the capital, and nearby storage areas ahead of a possible strike.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki accused the Houthis of using the facility and its underground fuel depots for their arsenal of missiles and drones.
Houthi officials appeared to have anticipated the attack. The oil company said its storage facilities were empty and that a Saudi strike would not affect oil reserves or supplies for residents. Still, witnesses in the city said lines of cars formed at some gas stations amid fears of a shortage.
Shortly after the warning, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a "firm and painful" response in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Hours later, Saudi Arabia issued alerts for incoming missiles heading for Riyadh and the Eastern Province but quickly said the danger had passed. The coalition said it had intercepted a series of Houthi-launched ballistic missiles, drones and cruise missiles in multiple areas in the country, including Riyadh and the southern province of Wadi al-Dawasir. Riyadh residents reported hearing loud explosions.
Airlines moved a number of their planes out of Riyadh on Tuesday on the advice of insurers and government officials because of the threat of additional attacks. They needed to transfer the planes to other airports in the country so they can keep flying passengers to their destinations, said Osprey Flight Solutions Chief Intelligence Officer Matthew Borie, whose company advises airlines, insurers and countries on flight threats.
"It's not abnormal for this to occur especially in this day and age with the types of conflict zone situations that have occurred in the region," Borie said.
More than 3,120 flights scheduled to depart from airports across Saudi Arabia since Oct. 8 have been canceled or listed as not operating, representing about 41% of scheduled departures, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. That includes more than 300 flights that had been scheduled to depart Wednesday.
Several airlines have suspended service to the kingdom because of the Houthi attacks on airports.
It was unclear whether the Tuesday strike in Yemen was a signal of military escalation or a carefully measured response to recent deadly attacks on the Riyadh airport.
The warning and the attack show "the Saudis' aims of upping the ante and striking deep in the heart of Houthi-controlled territory while attempting to control the narrative by presenting themselves as more careful and humanitarian actors than the Houthis," said Adam Baron, a fellow at the Washington-based New America institute.
"It may be a warning - or it may be a sign of things to come," he said.
Saudi Arabia is still scrambling to determine how its air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300.
The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government, has been trying to retake them.
Saudi Arabia's Cabinet on Tuesday warned the Houthis they would "face consequences" for their repeated attacks on the kingdom.
"The Kingdom will not allow any threat to its security or to freedom of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait," the Cabinet said in a statement carried by Saudi state-owned Al-Ekhbariya television. The Bab el-Mandeb is another area key to the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
On Tuesday, Yemen's interior ministry said in a statement on X that Houthi strikes over the past day on Taiz, a major city in the country's southwest, had killed six people and injured 18 amid ongoing battles in the region.
A commander with the Saudi-backed forces said rebels had fought through fierce resistance to reach the edges of Taiz, and some had entered the city. The fight was now critical for Taiz, which has long been a sought-after prize, he said.
The commander, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe battlefield details, said rebel forces were surprisingly large, and bolstered by medium and short-range ballistic missiles.
That fighting is leading to the large-scale displacement of people and growing shortages of food and other supplies, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday, with cooking gas largely unavailable and food prices that have reportedly risen about 50%.
Saudi Arabia has been pushing for the U.S. military to provide more direct support in the fight against the Houthis.
The U.S. has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but has held off on carrying out strikes against the Houthis.
A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb.
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