Fire at Saudi Aramco Building After Houthi Attack, Blaze Contained

A fire broke out at an administrative building of Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco in Dhahran, an eastern Saudi city, following an attack on Tuesday. The fire was quickly brought under control, with no casualties reported, according to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry.

The incident comes amid escalating hostilities following Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen.

Early Tuesday, Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree declared Saudi oil facilities “legitimate targets” and urged employees and civilians in the surrounding areas to evacuate. The attack on Aramco’s administrative building in Dhahran occurred a few hours later.

Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition ordered the evacuation of the central oil facilities of Yemen Oil Company in Al-Sabah, in the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, ahead of a military operation. Civilians were told to leave the area. Al Jazeera correspondents later reported hearing explosions in Sanaa. Houthi-affiliated media claimed that the oil facilities were damaged in Saudi-led airstrikes.

Saree warned that any attack on Sanaa would prompt a “harsh and painful” response against Riyadh, the Saudi capital. In a message posted on X, he also threatened retaliatory strikes on facilities previously ordered to be evacuated if the Saudi-led coalition continued its attacks.

Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry reported loud explosions shortly after the strike on the Al-Sabah oil facilities in Sanaa. According to him, Saudi-led forces also struck Ras Isa port on the Red Sea and an oil facility in the Houthi-controlled Hodeidah province.

Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki accused the Houthis of using oil facilities and underground fuel depots to store missiles and drones. Yemen Oil Company, however, said its storage facilities had been emptied in advance because of the threat of attacks, claiming that fuel supplies would not be significantly affected. Witnesses reported long queues at petrol stations in Sanaa amid fears of shortages.

Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA reported that the country’s air defence forces intercepted several missiles heading towards Riyadh. Falling debris from the intercepted missiles injured four people and damaged 15 houses, according to Saudi Civil Defence.

Earlier, Saudi authorities reported that at least 12 people were killed and more than 300 injured in a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday. Another attack on the airport on Sunday reportedly killed one person and injured 11. The incidents have raised concerns among international airlines over flight operations in Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region.

Coalition forces also reported intercepting three more drones in northern Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, a cabinet meeting chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned that the Houthis would pay a “heavy price” for their repeated attacks, SPA reported.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump criticised the Houthis, saying they were behaving “very badly”. He also said he might seek Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intervention in Yemen to protect Saudi Arabia’s interests. Trump expressed confidence that Erdogan would act if requested.

As the conflict enters a new phase, Saudi Arabia is providing military support to Yemen’s internationally recognised government. Yemeni government forces said they carried out several airstrikes targeting Houthi positions and military equipment in the southwestern Taiz governorate on Tuesday. Five strikes were reported in Dubab district and four in Al-Masrakh district.

According to the media centre of Yemen’s Defence Ministry, intense fighting is underway between government forces and the Houthis in the Al-Shagab area south of Taiz. Meanwhile, the Yemen Network for Rights and Freedoms, a human rights organisation, alleged that Houthi shelling in Taiz over the past 24 hours killed at least five civilians, including a five-year-old child, and injured 17 others. At least seven houses were damaged. The organisation claimed that more than 180 shells were fired in the area in a single day.

In September, the Houthis claimed to have captured the port city of Mokha and several strategic areas along Yemen’s western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Following these advances, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces intensified their counteroffensive. As the conflict escalates, International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric expressed concern and called on all parties to agree to a ceasefire.

According to the United Nations, at least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 injured in Yemen since August, including a significant number of children. More than 200,000 people have been displaced since September, the report said.