Coalition Saudi Arabia-led fighter jets are targeting the military bases of 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 suburbs, residents and rebel-run Al-Masirah TV said. A separate attack hit a rebel target in the port province of Hodeidah.
The Iranian-backed Houthis attacked a Saudi Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh on Friday with six jam-packed drones. The attack set off a fire that was later controlled without affecting oil stocks or derivatives, state media said. No casualties were reported.
Saudi Arabia says missiles in Aramco strikes were made in Iran
The escalation could hamper US efforts to end the Seven Years’ War in Yemen, which sparked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with widespread famine and disease. The conflict is also complicated by US President Joe Biden’s deadlock with Iran on how to revive a 2015 accord to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
The Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict in neighboring Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government.
The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia rarely claim lives and rarely cause major damage, but their frequency has increased in recent months, sparking unrest in the Gulf, a region critical to global oil production and transit. According to the Saudi authorities, several attacks on the Saudi capital Riyadh have been intercepted.
Does not include victims of rebel attack in third paragraph