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- Group says strikes targeted sites across kingdom in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Yemen; coalition reports intercepting 2 ballistic missiles
UPDATES WITH DETAILS
By Rania Abushamala
ISTANBUL (AA) - Yemen's Houthi group claimed on Saturday that it carried out seven military operations using ballistic missiles and drones against airports, oil facilities and an air base across Saudi Arabia in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes on Yemen.
In a statement, the group said it targeted King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh.
It also claimed attacks on Saudi oil giant Aramco's facilities in Yanbu and the Rabigh oil refinery, both on the kingdom's western Red Sea coast.
Another operation targeted crude oil pumping stations and the East-West oil pipeline, which transports oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea coast, according to the statement.
The Houthis also claimed to have struck King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, saying the attack was "precise" and disrupted air traffic.
Other operations targeted Najran airport in southern Saudi Arabia, near the Yemeni border, and the Khamis Mushait air base in the southwest, with the group claiming direct hits.
The Houthis said the attacks were in response to Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, alleging that 100 strikes over the last 24 hours had hit civilian sites in the capital Sanaa and other areas under their control, killing and injuring dozens.
The group claimed Saudi Arabia had carried out a total of 3,123 airstrikes and missile attacks since the latest escalation began.
Meanwhile, Saudi Civil Defense said two Houthi ballistic missiles launched toward the Mecca and Medina regions were intercepted, with debris falling in four locations.
Parts of the missiles fell in Wadi al-Mughammas in Mecca, while interception debris fell in Jeddah’s al-Nuzha district, Wadi Jalil in Taif and Masturah in Rabigh, the agency said in a statement.
Providing further details on the debris near Mecca, Saudi Arabia’s AlEkhbariya channel said “fragments of one of the two missiles fell in Wadi al-Mughammas near the holy site of Arafat, 23 kilometers from the Grand Mosque in Mecca.”
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, however, denied targeting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.
Saree said the group’s operation targeted oil facilities and military bases, adding that details would be announced “in due course.”
Earlier on Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles targeting the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu.
The Houthis have controlled Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country since 2014.
Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognized government against the Houthis since 2015.
The latest fighting began in July, after the collapse of a 2022 ceasefire.
Rania R.a. Abushamala
