NewzCAIRO (AP) — Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed new attacks on airports and military facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the kingdom is pulled deeper into the latest front in the Iran war, which also threatens a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.As the Saudi capital is targeted again, new cagelike fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport.The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Yahya Saree, said on social media that the rebels launched ballistic missiles and drones against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj.
Turki al-Malki, said they intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Flights were briefly disrupted, according to Flightradar24.The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has faced a string of attacks on oil and military targets in recent days. Now Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces have launched a major ground and air offensive against the Houthis aiming to retake territory that the rebels seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.Those positions gave the Houthis better surveillance as they pursue a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping.
On Monday, officials said forces of the Saudi-led coalition recaptured several key areas around the strait, through which about 12% of global trade transits.Houthis also push for strategic areas inside Yemen“The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an analysis.The Houthi spokesperson said they also targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of rebel drones and missiles. The rebels also claimed to hit an air base in the city of Khamis Mushait and two military bases in Najran and Asir. All are in the southwest, near the Yemeni border.Inside Yemen, fighting has centered in and around the crucial town of Dhubab, some 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) south of the port city of Mokha that the rebels seized last month, according to both the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government.Clashes were als…
As the Saudi capital is targeted again, new cagelike fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport. The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Flights were briefly disrupted, according to Flightradar24.
The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has faced a string of attacks on oil and military targets in recent days. Those positions gave the Houthis better surveillance as they pursue a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping. Houthis also push for strategic areas inside Yemen “The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an analysis.
The Houthi spokesperson said they also targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of rebel drones and missiles. All are in the southwest, near the Yemeni border. Inside Yemen, fighting has centered in and around the crucial town of Dhubab, some 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) south of the port city of Mokha that the rebels seized last month, according to both the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
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