The United States warned yesterday that fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi forces could “escalate rapidly” after a missile attack targeted Riyadh for the first time since Yemen’s war resumed.
US President Donald Trump abruptly ended a weekend stay at Camp David, the secluded presidential retreat in rural Maryland, and returned to the White House yesterday.
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The White House offered no reason for the early departure, which came as the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis crossed a new threshold. The group controls large parts of Yemen and is battling government forces supported by a Riyadh-led coalition.
Two powerful blasts were heard yesterday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel tank displaying the logo of oil giant Aramco burning near the airport.
The Houthis’s rapid offensive, which has captured broad areas of Yemeni territory in recent weeks, has killed hundreds of people and displaced more than 110,000, according to the United Nations.
The fighting and the conflict that followed with the kingdom have already disrupted exports from Saudi Arabia — the world’s leading crude oil supplier — along with maritime traffic.
Late last night, the Riyadh-led coalition said on X that its forces had “successfully intercepted and destroyed” a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward the capital.
Houthis tried to target ‘civilians and civilian infrastructure’ – Riyadh
The coalition said the pro-Iranian fighters had attempted to strike “civilians and civilian infrastructure” in several western Saudi cities, including Yanbu, a Red Sea port that serves as a major outlet for the kingdom’s oil exports.
According to the coalition, the attacks were stopped by “the Gulf monarchy’s air defences”.
Saudi Arabia has carried out dozens of airstrikes against Houthi-held territory, but the bombardment has not halted the group’s advance.
Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said in a Telegram statement that the group had answered recent Saudi attacks with “two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones”.
“The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu.”
Saudi authorities had already issued an air raid warning overnight.
Several hours after the alert was issued in the early morning, residents said they heard what appeared to be a series of explosions reverberating across parts of Riyadh.
The strikes marked the first time since Yemen’s civil war resumed that attacks had threatened the Saudi capital, adding to pressure on a global economy already shaken by seven months of war between the United States and Iran.
“The area is under a hostile aerial threat,” said a message sent to Riyadh residents shortly before 3am, instructing them to remain indoors.
AFP journalists subsequently heard two explosions. About half an hour later, Saudi civil defence officials ended the alert.
The episode followed Riyadh’s accusation that the Houthis had targeted Mecca on Wednesday, describing the alleged strike as a “cowardly terrorist attack” on Islam’s holiest city, which draws millions of pilgrims each year. The Houthis rejected the claim as a “worn-out lie”.
The group has reported dozens of retaliatory Saudi strikes each day since launching its offensive this month to seize Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline and gain control of the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait.
According to US news platform Axios, Washington rejected a Saudi request to attack the Houthis last week.
On Thursday, the US State Department approved a $24.3bn sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, saying the aircraft would help Riyadh “deter current and future threats”.
Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and other areas, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in March 2015.
A fragile truce agreed by the warring sides in 2022 collapsed in July after the Houthis challenged Riyadh’s control of Yemeni airspace by permitting an Iranian aircraft to land in the country.
The apparent attack came as the Houthis strengthen their positions in newly captured areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Members of the group have said they are installing radar systems and excavating tunnels.
