Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday they had struck facilities of Saudi oil giant Aramco, in what the group called a houthi strike on Saudi Aramco, and warned that attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities would continue in the coming days.

Fire at the Dhahran base

The strike hit Aramco's base in Dhahran on Tuesday night and started a fire that spread across several floors, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The Saudi energy ministry described it as a limited fire.

Two of the sources said operations at Aramco were continuing normally, with employees working from home, and Aramco did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Dhahran complex hosts a major Aramco operations centre that oversees onshore and offshore oil rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals.

What the Houthis say they launched

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group carried out what he described as "a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran", along with strikes on Riyadh airport and a refinery in the capital. In a Wednesday statement, the group said the attacks used:

• •ballistic missiles
• •cruise missiles
• •drones

The Houthis described the targeted locations as legitimate targets and called their attacks retaliation for Saudi strikes on Yemen. They also urged international shipping companies, civilians and workers to evacuate Saudi airports and oil facilities.

Saree said operations would go on in the days ahead, with Saudi airports and oil facilities remaining in the group's sights.

Wednesday's alerts over Riyadh

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh on Wednesday, and several loud booms were heard in the capital. Saudi authorities issued an alert for a possible aerial threat in the city before lifting it, a witness said, and the cause of the booms was not immediately clear.

Why Aramco matters to the conflict

Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 in support of the government after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa. A UN-brokered truce in 2022 held until this year, and last month Saudi Arabia resumed its military campaign in Yemen to reverse Houthi gains, after the group swept down the Red Sea coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

According to the report, the escalating conflict has dealt a blow to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to transform and diversify the Saudi economy and reduce reliance on oil. Saree said operations would continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi airports and oil facilities; Aramco did not immediately reply to a request for comment.