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The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis rejected the group’s claim that it attacked Riyadh, calling the assertion “misleading,” even as an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist reported seeing flames and smoke at an oil facility near the Saudi capital.
Fighting between the Iran-backed Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is supported by Saudi Arabia, resumed in July and has included repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi territory.
Government forces said Sunday that they struck Houthi targets across Yemen, while the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on an oil facility south of Riyadh belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco.
Saudi authorities have not commented on the reported incident.
Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Gen. Turki al-Maliki told Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat late Saturday that the Houthis were “chasing imaginary victories.”
Speaking to the Britain-based outlet, Maliki said the group was struggling in Taiz, Yemen’s third most populous city, which remains largely under government control.
The Houthis also claimed last month to have attacked an oil facility in Yanbu, a major Saudi oil terminal on the Red Sea.
Yemen returned to major civil war in July after several years of relative calm, with the Houthis controlling most of the northwest, including the capital Sanaa, while the government and its Saudi backers hold much of the south and east.
The government is based in Aden and controls a larger but less populated part of the country.
Fighting intensified last month when the Houthis launched a rapid offensive and seized coastal areas along the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The group has also struck targets inside Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and announced a naval blockade targeting Saudi ships in the Red Sea.
Recent fighting has focused heavily on Taiz. Although the Houthis have captured large areas, they have not taken control of Taiz city from government forces.
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