Saudi-led coalition strikes oil site in Yemen's capital

Saudi-led coalition strikes oil site in Yemen's capital. AFP Published October 13, 2026 Updated October 14, 2026 12: 51am.

Key points

• The Saudi coalition has backed Yemen's administration militarily against the Houthis since 2015 in a long-running civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis.
• After having reportedly rebuffed previous Saudi requests, the Riyadh airport attack prompted US President Donald Trump to say he was considering joining Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
• On Monday evening, Human Resources Minister Ahmad bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi remained defiant.
• Earlier, the coalition's spokesman remarked residents should leave an oil facility belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Firm on the western outskirts of Sanaa before it was attacked.
• The Houthis cautioned the US against intervention, with political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti telling AFP they would target American interests in the region.

After the Riyadh-led coalition informed civilians to leave the surrounding area in its first evacuation order for the Yemeni capital since the war flared up again, yemen's Houthis remarked Saudi Arabia struck an oil facility in Sanaa on Tuesday.

Notably, the Saudi-led coalition remarked military operations were conducted against "vital assets" employed by the Houthis to wage war in Yemen.

In an official note posted on X, coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki notes the targets included the Al-Sabaha central station in the capital Sanaa, underground fuel reserves and fuel tanks, and energy terminals in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Dhamar.

While a breaking news alert on the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel stated, "Saudi aggression targets the oil company in Al-Sabaha, west of Sanaa", an AFP correspondent in Sanaa documented hearing an explosion. The Saudi-led coalition had not yet confirmed the documented strike.

Swiftly responding to the earlier coalition warning, the Houthis had issued a threat to target Riyadh's international airport, a refinery, and an Aramco facility in Dammam if the strike went ahead.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces urge all citizens to immediately evacuate and move away from targets that our forces will strike should the Saudi enemy target, " military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on X, identifying the three targets.

For context, an attack at Riyadh's airport on Saturday left 13 individuals dead and operations suspended, rocking the world's top crude oil exporter and deepening the war in Yemen, where the kingdom backs the internationally recognised administration.

Meanwhile, an AFP correspondent documented that numerous civilians in Sanaa, fearing shortages, rushed to queue in front of fuel stations after the coalition warning.

In practice, the Yemen Petroleum Firm sought to reassure the public, saying it had taken all necessary precautions in the event of an emergency to "meet people's needs".

Petroleum stocks were "available in safe facilities and locations, and in sufficient quantities" to meet demand for long periods, it remarked.

Saudi Arabia was still weathering fresh attacks on Tuesday, with the coalition saying its forces intercepted three drones north of the kingdom's capital Riyadh.

Plenty of countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens in Saudi Arabia, most lately France. It informed its citizens to avoid the airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Saudi coalition has backed Yemen's administration militarily against the Houthis since 2015 in a long-running civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis.

As remote learning for all schools and work-from-home orders for some firms took effect, according to AFP journalists, traffic in perennially gridlocked Riyadh was noticeably lighter this week.

Saudi Arabia faces a major economic contraction this year, with GDP projected to shrink 3.3 per cent, the International Monetary Fund stated on Tuesday, predicting a regional drop over Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Since the start of the Middle East war in February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran, the kingdom was already facing headwinds from Tehran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, vital for oil and gas trade.

But the restart in July of Yemen's frozen war has further roiled the kingdom and brought the fight to its own soil. Houthi attacks have additionally targeted oil tankers in the Red Sea – Saudi Arabia's alternative export route.

In Yemen, the renewed fighting was fuelling the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. Suspected cholera cases tripled there in three weeks, the World Health Organisation remarked on Tuesday, warning that the growing disease burden was straining hospitals already treating war casualties.

Blasts were heard over the Saudi capital again late on Monday, with the Saudi coalition saying it intercepted a Houthi missile and the group announcing it had again targeted the airport.

"We're not going out, " he informed the crowd at the Riyadh Economic Forum. "We are safe. With God's will. May God turn their plots back against them."

Notably, the Houthis cautioned the US against intervention, with political bureau member Mohammed Al Bukhaiti telling AFP they would target American interests in the region.

Bukhaiti remarked the purpose of the campaign against Saudi targets was to send a message to the crown prince "that he can no longer wage aggression against Yemen from a safe position".

For now, saudi-led coalition strikes oil site in Yemen' s capital remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.