Saudi Coalition Strikes Fuel Depot Near Yemen's Capital

The Houthis have warned Saudi Arabia that they will retaliate by targeting the Saudi cities of Riyadh and Dammam.

Missiles were intercepted near Riyadh after the Saudi coalition attacked Yemen's fuel depot

The spokesman of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen attacked a fuel depot near the capital Sana'a under the control of the Houthis, missiles and drones were intercepted over Riyadh.

Major General Turki al-Maliki said that projectiles targeting the Saudi capital and other cities were intercepted. No casualties were reported, but a fire broke out at Saudi Aramco's building in Dhahran after the attack, officials said.

This attack takes place after the coalition attacked the Sabah facilities of the Yemen Oil Company on Tuesday night.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said the latest retaliatory strikes in the conflict "potentially have negative spillovers for everyone, everywhere."

The Houthis warned that they would target Aramco's airport and refinery in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and Aramco's headquarters in the eastern city of Dammam.

Meanwhile, the Saudi cabinet headed by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has said that the Iran-backed group will suffer the "consequences" of its recent deadly attacks on the kingdom.

Thirteen people were killed when a missile hit Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, while another was killed in a similar attack there the following day.

On Tuesday, the coalition announced that its forces had destroyed three drones north of Riyadh.

The Houthis have said they are targeting airports, oil and gas facilities and military bases in Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones in response to deadly Saudi attacks on areas under their control in western Yemen, including Sana'a.

The Saudi-led coalition is supporting Yemeni pro-government forces that are attacking Yemen's Red Sea coast and several other front lines.

Ambassador Arjan's correspondent reported that queues formed at gas stations in Sanaa on Tuesday afternoon following the coalition's warning of an impending operation against al-Sabaheh oil facilities, with many residents worried about shortages.

The Houthi-run Yemen Oil Company issued a statement seeking to reassure them, saying the facility "does not contain any reserves of petroleum products".

The company also said that it has "taken all necessary preventive measures to address any emergency situation, ensure the stability of the supply situation and continue to meet the needs of citizens as normal."

After Maliki confirmed the attack, which was first reported by Houthi media, explosions were heard in Riyadh and other Saudi cities, and Maliki reported that four missiles and two drones were intercepted near the capital.

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally recognized government from Sanaa. The conflict intensified in 2015 after the intervention of a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia in an attempt to restore the government's sovereignty.

An unofficial four-year ceasefire began in July, when the Houthis declared a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said they were retaliating against Saudi Arabia's blockade of their territory, as well as an airstrike on Sana'a airport, which they blamed on the kingdom.

The conflict escalated in September after the Houthis seized part of Yemen's southwestern Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab strait, a stopover for global shipping. Their advance helped boost oil prices after six months of war between the United States, Israel and Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday that the Houthis "are behaving very badly ... and are purposefully trying to drive up the price of oil."

When asked by reporters whether he had made a decision to help the Saudis retaliate against them, he said he "might" ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene.

Last week, pro-government forces said they had retaken control of territory overlooking Bab al-Mandab after launching a major counteroffensive backed by Saudi airstrikes.

According to reports, hundreds of people have been killed in Yemen since August. The UN Human Rights Office says at least 54 civilians are among them, half of them children.

More than 216,000 people have also been displaced across the country, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks, from 217 to 647, according to the United Nations.