Illustrative image. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Katherine Walters)
A Saudi-led coalition carried out strikes on oil facilities west of Sanaa on October 13 after warning residents to evacuate the area.
The strikes followed an announcement by coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki urging civilians to leave the Yemen Petroleum Company’s Al-Sabaha Central Station and nearby storage areas ahead of a planned operation. Al-Maliki released a map identifying the area covered by the warning but did not specify the intended military objective.
The Saudi-led coalition appeared to be borrowing a tactic used by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza and later in Lebanon and Iran, issuing mapped evacuation warnings before carrying out strikes in designated areas.
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Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the targeted facility was “empty of petroleum derivatives and has no military value for targeting,” citing a source within the oil company.
The Yemen Petroleum Company separately said its storage facilities were empty and that the strike would not affect oil reserves or fuel supplies for residents. The facility lies on a hill overlooking western Sanaa, where a nearby fuel station is used by the public.
Before the strikes, Saree warned that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in Riyadh. Following the attack, the Houthis threatened Saudi oil infrastructure, identifying Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dammam, an Aramco refinery in Riyadh and King Khalid International Airport as potential targets.
The spokesman described Aramco facilities as “legitimate targets” and urged workers and civilians to stay away from them.
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The escalation comes after a series of Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a deadly attack on Riyadh’s international airport on October 10 that killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300.
The attacks have disrupted aviation and heightened pressure on Saudi authorities to strengthen the kingdom’s air defenses.
The latest exchange adds to the widening conflict between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, which supports forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Houthis will certainly execute their threat and respond with full force, possibly within hours.
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