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Yemen's Houthi group claimed Monday evening that it had launched three military operations against Saudi Arabia, targeting two airports, a state-owned oil refinery and several military sites in a significant escalation of cross-border attacks.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement posted on social media platform X that the operations involved a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the claims.
According to Saree, the first operation struck King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. He said the strike hit its intended target and disrupted air traffic at the facility, one of the busiest airports in the Gulf region.
The second operation targeted a refinery belonging to state oil giant Aramco in Rabigh, a Red Sea coastal city in the Mecca region, Saree said.
The attack, he claimed, sparked a fire at the refinery.
A third operation hit Abha Airport, the Khamis Mushait military base and Akfa camp, all in the southern Asir region, the spokesman said.
He added that other "sensitive sites" in the neighboring provinces of Najran and Jazan, near the border with Yemen, were also struck.
Saree framed the attacks as retaliation, saying they came in response to 60 Saudi airstrikes and missile attacks carried out over the preceding 24 hours against the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and the provinces of Al-Jawf, Taiz, Hajjah, Saada and Marib.
He said the overall number of airstrikes and missile attacks carried out since the current escalation began had reached 1,576.
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The Houthi spokesman also issued a warning to international airlines flying through Saudi airspace, saying the territory now fell within the group's declared area of operations. He made an exception for the airspace over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
The Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen including Sanaa, have for years targeted Saudi Arabia with missiles and drones amid the broader conflict in Yemen, which pits the group against the internationally recognized Yemeni government and a Saudi-led military coalition that has backed it since 2015.
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