Coalition warplanes led by the Saudis attacked the military bases of the Yemeni rebels in retaliation for a weekend attack on the heart of the kingdom’s economy.
The raids on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, targeted military camps, as well as Houthi rebel facilities near the city’s airport and its suburbs, residents and TV insurgents Al-Masirah said. A separate attack hit a rebel target in the port province of Hodeidah.
Iran-backed Houthis attacked a Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh on Friday with six bomb-loaded drones. The attack caused a fire that was later controlled without impacting supplies of oil or oil products, state media said. No victims were reported.
Saudi Arabia says missile strikes in Aramco were carried out in Iran
The escalation could hinder US efforts to end the seven-year war in Yemen, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with hunger and widespread illness. The conflict is also being complicated by the stalemate of U.S. President Joe Biden with Iran over how to revive a 2015 agreement designed to contain the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
The Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict in neighboring Yemen in 2015 to try to restore its internationally recognized government.
Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia rarely claim lives or cause major damage, but their frequency has increased in recent months, creating discomfort in the Gulf, a key region for global oil production and transit. Several attacks against the Saudi capital, Riyadh, have been intercepted, Saudi officials said.
(Does not add victims of the rebel attack in the third paragraph)