Houthis say targeted 'sensitive sites' in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu

Houthis say targeted 'sensitive sites' in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu.

Key points

• Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 documented major matters at the Saudi capital's Riyadh King Khalid International Airport, including cancellations and delays.
• On Friday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree remarked the group had foiled unspecified "criminal attempts" in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, blaming Saudi Arabia and vowing a response.
• "The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu."
• "The area is under a hostile aerial threat, " remarked a message received just before 3: 00am by Riyadh residents, urging them to stay indoors.
• The incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Makkah on Wednesday, denouncing it as a "cowardly terrorist attack" on the holy city.

Houthis say targeted 'sensitive sites' in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu. ReutersAFP Published September 19, 2026 Updated September 19, 2026 11: 35pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Yemen's Houthis remarked on Saturday that they rolled out strikes targeting "sensitive sites" in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and oil facilities in the kingdom's port city of Yanbu, hours after residents documented blasts in the Saudi capital.

This is the first time since Yemen's long-standing civil war resumed that it has threatened the Saudi capital, further shaking a global economy already under pressure by almost seven months of war between the United States and Iran.

"In response to the Saudi enemy's attempts to target the capital Sana'a. The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, " Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree remarked, in an official note on Telegram.

Notably, the Houthi statement came after firefighters extinguished a blaze on a fuel tank emblazoned with the logo of the Saudi oil giant Aramco at a fuel depot near Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, according to an AFP journalist. Smoke plume near Riyadh airport.

In practice, a sizeable plume of smoke was visible near Riyadh's main airport after booms were heard and Saudi Arabia sent alerts overnight warning of potential danger around the capital, against the backdrop of an escalation in attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Reuters video and photographs indicated a enormous pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground.

Meanwhile, the airport was listed under the site's maximum disruption index of 5.0, meaning the airport was seeing "major problems with long delays and several cancelled flights".

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi government's media office in response to Reuters' questions regarding the smoke and the overnight alerts.

Saudi civil defence sent the alerts by phone overnight for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, before issuing an all-clear on Saturday morning.

AFP journalists then heard two explosions, before the Saudi civil defence agency lifted the alert half an hour afterwards. A Reuters journalist in Riyadh's Olaya area additionally heard booms before the all-clear was sent.

"I heard the alarm, then my windows shook, " a Riyadh resident, 27, living in the city's north, informed AFP. "It was definitely scary. I was not expecting this." Another resident described the attack as "terrifying".

"I was extremely anxious – especially because, unlike previous times, the 'all-clear' signal didn't come right away, " the central Riyadh resident remarked.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the threat mentioned in the warnings sent overnight to residents of a number of regions and has not identified where it originated from.

Although some alerts had been issued in Riyadh this year after the start of the US-Iran war, these were the first since the escalation began with the Houthis in July.

For context, the incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Makkah on Wednesday, denouncing it as a "cowardly terrorist attack" on the holy city. It welcomes millions of pilgrims each year. Houthis strongly denied the accusation, calling it a "worn-out lie".

Meanwhile, the Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

For context, the attacks have created new threats to global oil supplies, putting at risk trade via Bab al-Mandab – the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports – while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded.

Notably, the Houthis insist there is no threat to shipping in the sea lane – except for Saudi ships, from the world's leading crude exporter.

In practice, the group, which seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coast in a lightning advance this month, notes the Saudi Air Force has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against it in recent days.

Notably, the UN Security Council (UNSC) in an official note on Friday "condemned in the strongest terms continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children".

In the statement, the UNSC additionally condemned "Houthi military escalation in Yemen".

For context, the US, according to Axios, last week refused to strike the Houthis at Saudi Arabia's request.

On Thursday, Washington approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom to support Riyadh "deter current and future threats", the US State Department stated.

Notably, the attack targeting Riyadh comes as the Houthis improve their defences in newly conquered territory along Yemen's Red Sea coastline, with members of the group telling AFP they have been installing radar and digging tunnels.

For context, the United Nations remarked on Friday that the renewed fighting had displaced more than 112, 000 residents while almost 3, 000 others had fled throughout the sea to Djibouti.

Notably, the war in Yemen broke out in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa and other regions, triggering a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia in March 2015.

When the Houthis defied Riyadh's control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian aircraft to land in Yemen, the fragile truce reached in 2022 between the warring parties collapsed in July.

In short, houthis say targeted ' sensitive sites' in Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.