RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – October 4, 2026 — Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Saturday that it had struck an oil facility belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco near the Saudi capital with ballistic missiles and drones, as flames and thick black smoke were seen rising from a refinery south of Riyadh in what would be the first direct Houthi attack on the Saudi capital in the current escalation.
The claim, made late on Saturday by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, said the attack was carried out in retaliation for Saudi strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa and other provinces. Saree said the missiles and drones had sparked fires at the targeted sites.
An AFP journalist in Riyadh reported seeing flames and smoke rising from an Aramco facility on Saturday afternoon, and described firefighters battling a blaze at Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, with ambulances and police vehicles stationed near the facility. A Reuters witness separately reported seeing a large plume of smoke and fire in the vicinity of an Aramco facility earlier on Saturday.
Saudi authorities had not confirmed any attack as of late Saturday, and Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to media reports.
Retaliation Claims Follow Sanaa Strikes
The Houthi claim came on the same day the group accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa dozens of times. Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit the Yemeni capital with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting “Saudi aggression” against the capital, without providing details of the targets or casualties.
Two correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles at the city, according to media reports. The Houthis said Saudi Arabia had bombed the Yemeni capital on Thursday night for the first time since renewed fighting broke out between the two sides in July, and Al-Masirah reported missile strikes on Saturday on the telecommunications network in Saada, one of the group’s strongholds.
Conflict Spirals After Red Sea Offensive
The two sides have been trading strikes since the Houthis seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb strait in a lightning offensive last month, after several years of relative calm.
Yemen was plunged back into civil war in July, pitting the Iran-backed Houthis, who control most of northwest Yemen including Sanaa, against the country’s internationally recognised government, according to regional observers.
The reported Riyadh strike follows the Houthis’ claim last week that they had attacked Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said at the time that it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward Taif and the Yanbu area, but did not report damage to Aramco facilities.
Energy Markets on Edge
The reported attack puts Saudi energy infrastructure directly in the crosshairs at a moment of acute regional tension, with attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and a looming United States–Iran confrontation also rattling oil markets, trade sources said.
Energy analysts said any confirmed damage to an Aramco facility in the capital would mark a dangerous new phase in the conflict, with global oil traders watching for an official Saudi statement on Sunday.
