New Delhi, Oct 14: A missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi movement struck a building belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco in the eastern city of Dhahran overnight, escalating the confrontation between the Iran-backed group and the Saudi-led coalition, the BBC reported.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said the attack caused a “limited fire” in an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters. Saudi authorities also reported that several missiles and drones were intercepted elsewhere, while falling debris injured four people in the capital, Riyadh.
The attack came after the Saudi-led coalition struck a fuel depot operated by the Yemen Petroleum Company at al-Sabaha, near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday.
The Houthis said they had targeted Aramco and Riyadh’s airport in retaliation for the coalition’s strike and warned that further attacks would follow in the coming days.
The latest escalation has further heightened concerns over the security of Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure and the potential disruption of regional oil supplies and international shipping.
BBC reported that International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that the intensifying conflict could have “potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere”.
The Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had vowed on Tuesday that the Houthis would “bear the consequences” of their recent attacks on the kingdom.
The warning followed a missile strike on Riyadh’s airport on Saturday that killed 13 people including an Indian. The Houthis have also claimed responsibility for attacks targeting Saudi airports, oil and gas facilities, and military bases. The group has said its attacks are retaliation for Saudi air strikes on areas under its control in western Yemen, including Sanaa.
The renewed confrontation comes amid escalating fighting along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including around the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as a key gateway to the Suez Canal.
The growing threat to energy facilities and shipping routes has raised concerns over wider regional instability and its implications for global trade. Yemen has been engulfed in civil war since 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa. The conflict escalated in 2015 after a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the internationally recognised government.
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