Houthis say they struck Saudi Aramco sites again; Yemen government launches offensive
Version 2: The Houthis reported a second day of attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities, Yemen’s Saudi-backed interim government declared the start of a military operation to retake Houthi-held territory, and its state news agency reported 260 Houthi fighters killed.
In short
The Houthis said they attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Riyadh on 3 October with ballistic missiles and drones, calling it retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa, and said they struck Aramco sites in Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia again on 4 October. AFP and Reuters reported fire and smoke at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh; Saudi authorities have not announced the attack. On 4 October, the head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed interim government, Rashad al-Alimi, declared the start of a military operation to retake all Yemen, and the state Saba agency reported 260 Houthi fighters killed.
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The Houthi movement in Yemen said it attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Riyadh on 3 October with ballistic missiles and drones, describing the strike as retaliation for Saudi air raids on Sanaa and other areas under its control. The group said the operation succeeded. AFP reported fire and smoke at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, and its reporters saw flames and smoke; Reuters reported smoke and fire near an Aramco facility in Riyadh. Saudi authorities had not announced the attack, and no damage or casualty figures have been published. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
The Houthis said on 4 October that they had attacked Aramco facilities again, in Riyadh and in eastern Saudi Arabia, also using ballistic missiles and drones, and said fires broke out. Nikkei, Sankei, Yomiuri and Tokyo Shimbun reported the group describing strikes on consecutive days; Sankei and Yomiuri said the 3 October operation was repeated in the 4 October statement. [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
Accounts of the strikes that preceded the Houthi announcements differ. Yomiuri reported the Houthis said their areas had been hit by 60 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks in the previous 24 hours and described their own attack as a counterstrike. Nikkei, citing the Middle East channel Al Arabiya, reported that Yemeni interim government forces backed by Saudi Arabia bombed Sanaa and intensified an offensive around Taiz in western Yemen, while Yahoo! News Japan reported the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of carrying out dozens of airstrikes on Sanaa. [ 1 , 2 , 6 ]
On 4 October, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen’s Saudi-backed interim government, declared the start of a military operation to take control of all Yemen, including areas held by the Houthis, according to Sankei and Yomiuri. Yomiuri, citing Yemen’s Saba news agency, reported that interim government forces attacked Houthi-held Sanaa and southwestern Taiz and killed 260 Houthi fighters. Tokyo Shimbun’s article page separately listed a related report that Saudi-backed interim government forces began a large-scale attack targeting the Houthis on 5 October. [ 5 , 6 ]
Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had been in a lull since a UN-mediated ceasefire in April 2022, but it reignited in July, when an informal truce collapsed, according to Nikkei and Asahi. Asahi reported the Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea and have continued attacking ships and oil facilities, and that navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb strait linking the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea has been restricted, affecting international energy supply chains. Asahi put the Riyadh refinery’s capacity at 126,000 barrels per day, about 4% of Aramco’s domestic refining capacity of roughly 3.29 million barrels per day including joint ventures, and recalled that Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March 2015 at the request of the internationally recognised government. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The exchange of strikes has intensified since a truce broke down in July, and Asahi reported that navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb strait has been restricted, affecting international energy supply chains. The interim government’s declared operation widens the fighting inside Yemen. No damage or casualty figures for the Riyadh strikes have been published, and Saudi Arabia has not commented.
Key facts
- The Houthis said they attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Riyadh on 3 October with ballistic missiles and drones, describing it as retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa and other areas they hold. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- AFP reported fire and smoke at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, with its reporters seeing flames; Reuters reported smoke and fire near an Aramco facility in Riyadh. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The Houthis said on 4 October that they attacked Aramco facilities in Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia, again saying they used ballistic missiles and drones and that fires broke out. [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s interim government Presidential Leadership Council, said on 4 October that a military operation had begun to take control of all Yemen, including Houthi-held areas. [ 5 , 6 ]
- Yemen’s Saba news agency reported on 4 October that Saudi-backed interim government forces attacked Houthi-held Sanaa and southwestern Taiz and killed 260 Houthi fighters. [ 6 ]
- The Houthis said their areas had been hit by 60 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks in the previous 24 hours, according to Yomiuri. [ 6 ]
- Nikkei reported an informal truce collapsed in July, and Asahi said the Houthis declared a Red Sea naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and have kept attacking ships and oil facilities, restricting navigation through the Bab el-Mandeb strait. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Asahi reported the Riyadh refinery has a capacity of 126,000 barrels per day, about 4% of Aramco’s domestic refining capacity of roughly 3.29 million barrels per day including joint ventures. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Houthis said they attacked Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the Riyadh area on 3 October with ballistic missiles and drones, calling it retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa and other areas under their control. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Fire and smoke were seen at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh, according to AFP, and Reuters reported smoke and fire near an Aramco facility in Riyadh. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
- The Houthis said on 4 October that they had again attacked Aramco facilities, in Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia, using ballistic missiles and drones. [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- The chairman of Yemen’s interim government Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, declared on 4 October the start of a military operation to retake all Yemen, including Houthi-held areas. [ 5 , 6 ]
- Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis had been in a lull since a 2022 ceasefire and reignited in July this year. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- The extent of damage at the Aramco facilities and whether anyone was killed or injured. Saudi authorities have not announced the attacks, and the documents carry no damage or casualty figures; the descriptions of fires rest on Houthi statements and on AFP, Reuters and other reporters’ observations.
- Whether the strikes on Sanaa were carried out by the Saudi-led coalition or by Saudi-backed Yemeni interim government forces. Nikkei, citing Al Arabiya, and Yomiuri, citing Yemen’s Saba agency, attribute the strikes to interim government forces, while Yahoo! News Japan reports the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of dozens of airstrikes on Sanaa, and Asahi describes Houthi-held areas as having been bombed by Saudi Arabia.
- The reported killing of 260 Houthi fighters in Sanaa and Taiz. Single-source: reported only by Yomiuri, citing the interim government’s Saba news agency, and not confirmed by other outlets or by the Houthis.
- The exact target location in the Riyadh area. Asahi and Yomiuri place the fire at an Aramco refinery in southern Riyadh, while Yahoo! News Japan describes an oil facility near Riyadh and Nikkei refers to the company’s refinery in the capital.
- Whether the operation declared by Rashad al-Alimi is the same large-scale attack reported on 5 October. Tokyo Shimbun’s page listed a separate report, without a readable article, that Saudi-backed interim government forces began a large-scale attack targeting the Houthis on 5 October; its relation to the declared operation is not stated.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The Houthis announce they attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, calling it retaliation for Saudi strikes on Sanaa and other areas they hold; AFP and Reuters report fire and smoke at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh and the Houthis say the operation succeeded. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 8 ]
- Nikkei reports the Houthi claim and, citing Al Arabiya, that Saudi-backed Yemeni interim government forces bombed Sanaa and stepped up an offensive around Taiz. [ 1 ]
- Yahoo! News Japan reports the Houthis accused the Saudi-led coalition of bombing Sanaa dozens of times. [ 2 ]
- The Houthis say their areas were hit by 60 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks in 24 hours, and say they attacked Aramco facilities in Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia again; Rashad al-Alimi declares the start of a military operation to retake all Yemen; Saba reports 260 Houthi fighters killed in Sanaa and Taiz. [ 5 , 6 ]
- Asahi reports Saudi authorities had not announced the attack and that a fire broke out at Aramco’s refinery in southern Riyadh, where firefighters worked and ambulances and police vehicles were deployed. [ 3 ]
- Nikkei reports the Houthis attacked Aramco facilities for consecutive days using ballistic missiles and drones. [ 4 ]
- Sankei reports the Houthis said on 4 October that they attacked Aramco facilities in Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia and repeated their claim of a 3 October operation, both with missiles and drones and both causing fires. [ 5 , 7 ]
- Yomiuri reports the Houthi claims for 3 and 4 October, the Houthi account of 60 Saudi strikes in 24 hours, Saba’s report of 260 Houthi fighters killed and al-Alimi’s declaration of a military operation. [ 6 ]
- Tokyo Shimbun reports the Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia for consecutive days and lists a related report that Saudi-backed interim government forces began a large-scale attack targeting the Houthis on 5 October. [ 8 ]