Yemen’s Houthis have warned all employees and civilians near Saudi oil facilities to evacuate, calling the sites a “legitimate target.”
The warning issued Tuesday by the group’s spokesperson, Yahya Saree, was prompted by an evacuation order from the Saudi-led coalition urging civilians to evacuate the Yemeni oil company’s al-Sabah central station in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.
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Shortly after the Saudi-led coalition ordered the evacuation, Al Jazeera’s team on the ground reported hearing explosions in Sanaa. Houthi-affiliated media said airstrikes by Saudi-backed forces hit an oil facility in the capital’s al-Sabah district.
“We heard the explosion against Saudi Arabia targeting the Yemeni al-Sabah central oil station here in the capital Sanaa,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry.
Saudi Arabia also carried out two other campaigns of airstrikes on the port of Ras Isa, targeting Yemeni oil storage tanks and on an oil station in Houthi-controlled Hodeidah province, according to Mawry.
Following the reported explosions, Saree said Houthi fighters were clashing with Saudi-backed forces in Sanaa.
Saree responded to the coalition’s evacuation order, warning that any strike on Sanaa would result in “harsh and painful” retaliation against the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
In a statement on X, Saree said the Houthis would target sites ordered to be evacuated if the Saudi-led coalition carried out an attack on Sanaa.
Civilians were asked to evacuate the Aramco headquarters in Dammam, King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco-affiliated refinery in Riyadh.
“The Ansar Allah Houthi group has not launched any attacks yet, but people expect retaliation,” Mawry said.
Airport attacks
An attack on King Khalid Airport on Saturday left at least 13 dead and more than 300 injured, shaking the world’s top crude oil exporter. Another person was killed and 11 others were injured on Sunday after a projectile hit Riyadh airport.
Many international airlines have since suspended flights to Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries following deadly attacks by the Houthis over the weekend, including Air France-KLM, Air India, Etihad, Lufthansa, Delta, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways.
The kingdom, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government, was still facing fresh attacks on Tuesday, with the coalition saying its forces had intercepted three drones north of Riyadh.
Saree also reiterated the Houthis’ warning to Saudi Arabia’s airports following recent attacks on several airports and oil facilities across the country since last week, a consequence of the broader regional conflict between the United States and Iran.
The Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said on Tuesday that the Houthis would face “consequences” for their attacks across the kingdom, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Houthis were “behaving very badly” and told reporters he “might” ask Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “to step in and support Saudi interests.”
“I think President Erdogan would do what I ask,” Trump said.
Dawn of Yemen
Saudi Arabia has launched strikes against the Houthis in recent weeks and is supporting a Yemeni government counter-offensive known as “Yemen Dawn” after the group seized strategic territory last month.
Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognized government said they launched a series of airstrikes on Tuesday against Houthi positions and equipment in the southwest of the country.
A total of nine airstrikes were carried out in Taiz governorate, including five in Dhubab district and four in al-Masrakh district, the government said.
According to the Taiz Axis Military Media Center, affiliated with the Defense Ministry, fighting continues between government forces and the Houthis in al-Shaqab, south of Taiz.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedom said Tuesday that the Houthis had killed at least five civilians, including a five-year-old girl, in Taiz over the previous 24 hours and injured 17 others.
The organization accused the Houthis of bombing residential neighborhoods, damaging at least seven houses. He also claimed that the group had fired more than 180 projectiles at Taiz in the previous 24 hours.
Houthi offensive
In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing forces loyal to the Yemeni government from the strategic port city. The same month, the group’s forces again swept and captured territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, including the strategically located Mayyun Island in the strait.
As fighting in Yemen continues to rage, International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric has warned that civilians across the Middle East are bearing the brunt of escalating hostilities and called on all parties to de-escalate.
“In Yemen, the scale of death, displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure, including in Aden and Sanaa, is increasing at an alarming rate. Across the Middle East, civilian infrastructure has been repeatedly hit and lives have been lost,” Spoljaric said in a statement.
At least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 injured in Yemen since August, including many children, and more than 200,000 people have been displaced since September, according to the United Nations.
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