A Houthi missile struck an administrative building of Saudi oil giant Aramco in the eastern city of Dhahran late on Tuesday, causing a limited fire, hours after Saudi-led strikes hit fuel and energy sites in Yemen.
Authorities responded to the incident and took the necessary measures, and no injuries or deaths were reported, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on Wednesday, Geo News reported, citing Reuters.
A company source told Reuters that a ballistic missile had hit the Aramco headquarters complex, damaging the top three floors of an office tower. The complex houses a major operations centre that oversees Aramco’s network of oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals.
Saudi strikes on Yemen’s fuel sites
Earlier on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had struck “vital assets” used by the Houthis to sustain their war effort, Dawn reported. Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said the targets included:
- Sanaa: the Al-Sabaha central station of the Yemen Petroleum Company, along with underground fuel reserves and storage tanks
- Hodeidah and Dhamar: energy facilities
- Saada: a further site, according to the coalition
The coalition said the sites supplied the Houthis’ missile and drone arsenal. “The operation aims to neutralise the Houthis’ capabilities that threaten the Kingdom, Yemen, the southern Red Sea, and waterways,” it said.
The coalition had first issued an evacuation warning for civilians near the Sanaa depot, its first such order for the capital since the war flared up again. Footage on social media showed a large fire at the site. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said it had “no military value”.
A “harsh and painful” response
The Houthis had threatened a “harsh and painful” response, naming Riyadh’s international airport, an oil refinery in the capital and Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran as possible targets, and warning oil workers to stay away.
That night, residents of the Eastern Province received alerts of a “hostile aerial threat”, and loud explosions were heard near Aramco’s headquarters. The coalition said fragments of an intercepted missile fell on a residential area in Dhahran.
In Riyadh, four people, two women, a man and a child, were injured when debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell, Saudi Civil Defence said. The debris caused limited damage to 15 homes. The coalition also said it had intercepted drones north of the capital and missiles heading for Haradh and Dhahran.
Trump and Erdogan weigh in
US President Donald Trump spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and said the Houthis were “behaving very badly”. He accused them of trying to push up oil prices before the November 3 US midterm elections and said he might ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step in to support Saudi interests.
Erdogan told the crown prince that Ankara would stand by the kingdom, according to the Turkish presidency. Turkiye and Pakistan signed a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia this summer, though Ankara still needs parliamentary approval to implement its commitments.
The Saudi cabinet said the kingdom would not allow threats to its security or to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and that the Houthis would “face the consequences of their crimes”.
Why it matters
Riyadh’s airport has now been hit four times, and the Houthis have turned their fire on the heart of the kingdom’s oil industry. Pakistan is bound to Saudi Arabia by the Makkah defence pact, and every escalation brings the war closer to the security of the Gulf, home to many Pakistani workers. Read our reports on the Houthi threat against US interests and on Saudi Arabia rejecting Israel’s offer to join the fight.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn, Geo News, The Express Tribune and Reuters.
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