Houthis Claim Strike on Aramco in Riyadh, Coalition Disputes
A fire broke out south of the Saudi capital on Saturday, and the Houthis claimed a missile and drone attack. Saudi authorities have not confirmed it, and Aramco is silent on the cause.
On Saturday, October 3, 2026, flames and thick black smoke rose over a Saudi Aramco facility south of Riyadh, and Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on Aramco in the Saudi capital. For Serbia this is first of all an energy story: Aramco is the state oil company whose facilities carry the kingdom’s crude production, refining and exports, so any disruption there is read on the global energy market, which also sets prices for Serbian consumers. Whether a disruption in Riyadh actually took place has not been confirmed so far.
What do the Houthis claim, and what does Riyadh say?
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement that the group carried out a “military operation with ballistic missiles and drones” on Aramco in Riyadh. According to him, the operation “successfully achieved its objective” and caused fires at the targeted sites. The Houthis say the attack is a response to Saudi air strikes on Sanaa and other Yemeni provinces.
Saudi authorities have not confirmed that the facility was attacked, and Aramco has not answered questions about the cause of the fire. Images released by international news agencies show thick black smoke over a nearby highway. Firefighters moved in to put out the blaze, and ambulances and police vehicles were reportedly seen nearby. A witness who spoke to Reuters also described smoke and fire near the facility.
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, called the Houthi claims about targeting Riyadh misleading. He added, speaking to the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat:
“What the Houthis are facing in Taiz and the human losses the group’s members are suffering at the hands of the heroes of the Yemeni armed forces and the National Resistance on all fronts are pushing them to seek illusory victories.”
No Saudi side has so far stated the cause of the fire captured by the agencies.
Response on the ground: 97 operations and strikes on Sanaa and Saada
Early on Sunday the coalition announced that its forces carried out 97 “precise operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the fronts around Taiz and in Lahij, using aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers. Yemeni government forces spokesman Col. Majed al-Nuzaili said the strikes hit at least 260 Houthi fighters and that 44 military vehicles were destroyed or disabled. Earlier the same spokesman had cited 257 attacks on several fronts and at least 700 Houthis killed, without a confirmed time frame. None of these figures has been independently verified.
Yemeni government forces separately said they struck Houthi targets in Sanaa and Saada, the rebels’ northern stronghold. In a statement broadcast by Saudi state television, Nuzaili declared:
“The militia’s capabilities will not be safe from the fire of our armed forces, and we will destroy them.”
For their part, the Houthis claim that Saudi forces carried out about 60 air strikes on their territory in the previous 24 hours, including on Sanaa. That is a claim from one side, and sources do not confirm it. Our earlier report on Yemen carried the army’s claim that it hit 1,540 Houthis in 24 hours, and the figures the army spokesman now cites are different.
What came before: Yanbu, Medina and the collapse of the truce
Riyadh is not the first target. Late last month the Houthis claimed they attacked Aramco facilities in the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Saudi Arabia then said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired toward Taif and Yanbu and that there was no damage to Aramco facilities. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the coalition also said the Houthis attacked a power plant in the holy city of Medina.
Fighting has intensified since the 2022 truce collapsed in July 2026. In mid-September the Houthis seized the port of Mokha and strategic islands in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital route for global oil shipping, before opposing forces stabilized the front lines. The fiercest fighting is around Taiz, a city divided into parts held by the Houthis and the government, where civilians flee their homes, often more than once. Since the conflict flared up again, several hundred thousand people have been displaced.
The World Food Programme said on Friday that renewed fighting has displaced thousands of families, pushed up food prices and cut off access to aid. Its monitoring shows that 74 percent of households in accessible areas cannot meet basic food needs, the highest level this year.
Reuters writes that Riyadh is weighing a broader offensive against the Houthis on several fronts, to push them back and secure a shipping lane through the Red Sea. The war has lasted since 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and forced the government to retreat to Aden.
