Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels towards an oil-rich region, the latest in spiralling attacks by the Iran-aligned rebels against the US-allied monarchy.
An official with the Saudi-led coalition forces fighting the Houthis said the missile targeting Saudi Arabia’s eastern region had been intercepted and destroyed.
Shrapnel from the intercepted missile fell in a suburb in the city of Dammam, leaving two children injured and 14 houses damaged, added Turki Al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, according to Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA.
Saudi air defences had intercepted two other missiles and three explosives-laden drones fired by the Houthis late Saturday towards the southern areas of Jazan and Najran, Al-Turki added, without reporting casualties or damage.
The Houthis confirmed the attacks, saying they had targeted Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco’s facilities in Dammam, Najran, Jazan and the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah.
“The operation successfully achieved its goals,” a military spokesman for the rebels was cited as saying by the pro-Houthi broadcaster al-Masirah, without further details.
The biggest attack on Aramco was in 2019, when two of the company’s facilities were hit, temporarily disrupting crude oil production.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks, although Saudi Arabia and the US blamed Iran, which denied involvement.
Yemen has been roiled by a devastating power struggle since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sana’a, and other areas of the country.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia formed a military coalition backing the Yemeni government and its forces against the Houthis.