Houthis claim missile and drone strike on Aramco site in Riyadh as Yemen’s war flares again

Yemen’s Houthi movement says it struck an Aramco energy facility in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree called the strikes “precise and direct” and said they set the site on fire.

A large plume of smoke and fire was seen near the Aramco facility. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, called the Houthi claims “misleading”.

Fighting on the ground

Early on Sunday, Yemen’s internationally recognised government said its forces had carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis. Spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said at least 260 Houthi fighters were killed and 44 military vehicles destroyed or disabled. Those figures could not be independently verified.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has announced operations to retake territory the Houthis captured in recent weeks. Saudi-backed forces separately claimed more than 700 Houthis had been killed in 24 hours.

A truce that collapsed

The 2022 truce broke down in July. In mid-September the Houthis took the Red Sea port of Mocha and islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since the fighting restarted.

Why India should watch

Bab al-Mandeb is the southern entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal route that carries much of India’s trade with Europe. With Hormuz already largely closed, more trouble at the second chokepoint would mean longer voyages, higher freight and insurance costs, and more pressure on India’s import bill.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera live.