Houthis launch new attack on Saudi capital as Trump mulls strikes

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said Wednesday that they would continue targeting Saudi Arabia's international airport and oil infrastructure in the coming days 

In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the attacks were "in response to the treacherous Saudi aggression against the capital Sanaa and the free governorates" and part of the group's "deterrence operations against the Saudi aggressor."

Saree also warned international shipping companies, civilians, and employees working at the targeted airports and businesses to "stay away from them and evacuate them immediately," as they would be considered legitimate targets.

A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition forces said Wednesday they had intercepted an attack from the Iran-backed Houthi militia.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a post on X a ballistic missile "launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh has been intercepted and destroyed."

Earlier, residents in the Saudi capital had reported hearing explosions.

Residents in Saudi Arabia's capital say they have heard new explosions in Riyadh.

The residents spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety. One lives in northern Riyadh, where King Khalid International Airport is located.

The source of the explosions wasn't immediately clear. The Saudi civil defense reported air raid alerts in Riyadh and Kharj province southeast of the capital. Kharj is home to the state-owned Military Industries Corporation and Prince Sultan Air Base.

The airport in Riyadh has been targeted several times in the past week with deadly attacks. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen have claimed responsibility.

Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell on residential areas in Riyadh on Tuesday, injuring four people and damaging 15 homes.

State-run Saudi Press Agency reported the injured included two women, a man and a child. Images released by Saudi's Civil Defense showed broken windows caused by what it said was fallen shrapnel.

CBS/AP

The Saudi Ministry of Energy said Tuesday a limited fire broke out in an administrative building in Aramco, one of the world's largest oil facilities, that was targeted in the country's Eastern Province. The ministry said no injuries were reported.

The attack comes as the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi coalition exchanged attacks Tuesday night. It marks 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 country's Eastern Province, a major oil-producing region and the capital Riyadh.

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis confirmed it struck oil sites across western Yemen on Tuesday, including in the capital Sanaa, in response to the deadliest attack on the kingdom's soil in years.

Blasts were heard shortly after in Saudi capital Riyadh and at an oil giant Aramco facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, witnesses and journalists told AFP.

Tuesday's coalition strikes in Yemen's Sanaa and the western provinces of Dhamar and Saada targeted facilities used to "supply the war effort" by the Houthis to "threaten the kingdom, Yemen, the southern Red Sea and waterways," coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki wrote on X.

An AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported an explosion, while a breaking news alert on the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel said earlier that "Saudi aggression" targeted the oil firm.