Missiles intercepted near Riyadh after Saudi coalition hits Yemen fuel depot
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen struck a fuel depot near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa.
Key points
- Saudi-led coalition struck a Houthi-run fuel depot near Sanaa on Tuesday night.
- Missiles and drones were intercepted over Riyadh and other Saudi cities, with no casualties reported.
- The IMF chief warned the tit-for-tat attacks could have negative spillovers everywhere.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen struck a fuel depot near the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday night, its spokesperson said. After the strike, missiles and drones were intercepted over Riyadh and other Saudi cities, according to Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki.
No casualties have been reported from the intercepts. However, fires broke out at Saudi oil company Aramco's building in Dhahran, officials said.
Houthi warnings and Saudi response
The Houthis warned they would target the airport and Aramco refinery in Riyadh and Aramco's headquarters in Dammam. The Iran-backed group said it was responding to deadly Saudi strikes on territory it controls, including Sanaa.
The Saudi cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said the Houthis would bear the consequences of their recent deadly attacks. Thirteen people were killed when a missile hit King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday, and another person was killed in a similar attack there the next day.
have potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere
— the chief of the International Monetary Fund
Regional and humanitarian impact
The IMF chief said the latest attacks could have potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere. The Houthis began a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in July and have since attacked Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
In Sanaa, queues formed at petrol stations on Tuesday after the coalition warned of an operation against the al-Sabaha oil facility. The Houthi-run Yemen Petroleum Company said the facility does not contain any stock of petroleum and that it had taken precautions to ensure supply stability.
The UN reports that hundreds have been killed in Yemen since August, including at least 54 civilians, half of them children. More than 216,000 people have been displaced, and suspected cholera cases have tripled in three weeks, rising from 217 to 647.
