Saudi coalition hits Sanaa fuel depot; Houthis fire back

The Saudi-led coalition struck the Yemen Petroleum Company's al-Sabaha facility outside Sanaa on Tuesday, hours after issuing its first evacuation order for the Yemeni capital since the war flared again in July. Missiles were then fired at Riyadh, Dammam and Dhahran. The coalition said it intercepted them, though shrapnel fell on a residential area in Dhahran, where Saudi Aramco has its headquarters.bbc+2

The exchange is the latest step in a fast-escalating fight. It began after a Houthi missile hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, killing 13 people and wounding more than 300, the deadliest attack on Saudi soil in a decade.apnews+1

Strikes across western Yemen

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the operation targeted "vital assets" the Houthis use to wage war: al-Sabaha central station, underground fuel reserves, fuel tanks and energy terminals in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar. According to Reuters, the coalition said the sites were used to "supply its arsenal of missiles and drones". Anis al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry, said a strike on an oil facility at Ras Isa in Hodeidah province killed at least two people.democrata+3

The Houthi-run Yemen Petroleum Company said the al-Sabaha site "does not contain any stock of petroleum products" and that supplies would not be affected. Even so, residents rushed to form queues at Sanaa petrol stations after the warning, AFP reported.al-monitor+1

Houthi retaliation

Before the strike, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned that any attack on Sanaa would bring a "harsh and painful" response in Riyadh. He named Aramco's Dammam headquarters, a Riyadh refinery and the capital's airport as targets. Al-Maliki later said four missiles and two drones had been intercepted near Riyadh. An AFP witness described seeing a projectile above a mall, followed by an explosion.shafaq+3

The Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Houthis would "bear the consequences" of their attacks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the crown prince that Ankara would stand by the kingdom.cyprus-mail+1

Washington weighs in

So far, the United States has provided intelligence and planning support but has not carried out strikes itself. On Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the Houthis were "behaving very badly" and "purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices." He said he "will never forget" their attacks. He would not say whether he would help the Saudis retaliate, but said he "might" ask Erdogan to intervene.bbc+2

The latest round of fighting began in September, when the Houthis seized territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The waterway has become more important since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in February. The UN says more than 216,000 people have been displaced, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks.cyprus-mail+1