Yemeni Army Spox: Missile and Drone Strikes on Saudi Airports and Aramco Facilities

By Staff, Agencies

Yemeni armed forces have announced a new wave of missile and drone attacks targeting two Saudi airports in Riyadh and Dammam, along with oil and gas facilities operated by Aramco.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the operations were carried out in response to continued Saudi aggression against Yemen.

Saree said 124 airstrikes had targeted the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and the provinces of Taizz, Marib, Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Hodeida and Saada during the reported period. He added that the total number of airstrikes since the beginning of the aggression had reached 2,058.

In retaliation, the Yemeni army conducted four special military operations over the preceding 24 hours, employing ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, according to the spokesman.

The first operation targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in three waves, beginning two nights earlier. Saree claimed the strikes disrupted air traffic and forced the airport to shut down completely.

The second and third operations targeted Aramco’s Shuqdam gas facility and Tanajib oil facility in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Saree said both facilities were accurately hit, resulting in fires at the sites.

The fourth operation targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, where a direct hit reportedly disrupted air traffic.

Saree also announced a separate operation against gatherings of what he described as “Saudi enemy mercenaries” in the Ras Al-Ara and Al-Saqiya areas. The operation involved six ballistic missiles and two drones, which he said struck their intended targets, leaving dozens dead or wounded.

The spokesman further stated that Yemeni armed forces had confronted several Saudi fighter jets using domestically manufactured surface-to-air missiles, forcing the aircraft to withdraw.

Saree warned international companies, specialists, workers and travelers against using Saudi airports, declaring them unsafe. He clarified, however, that the warning did not cover airports or airspace over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Separately, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation confirmed that King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had come under another attack on Sunday evening.

The incident followed a missile strike targeting the same airport on Saturday, which killed 12 people and injured more than 300 others, according to GACA.

In a statement released early Sunday, the authority said the fatalities included four Saudi citizens, as well as nationals of Bangladesh, Palestine, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Sudan.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched their military intervention against Yemen in March 2015, imposing a blockade and receiving military, political and logistical support from the United States and several Western countries.

The war has claimed tens of thousands of Yemeni lives, while Riyadh has failed to achieve its declared objective of restoring the government it backed in Sanaa.

Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has vowed that the country’s armed forces will continue intensifying operations deep inside Saudi territory, maintaining the equation of “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation” until the aggression against Yemen ends and the blockade is lifted.