Saudi-led coalition dismisses ‘misleading’ Houthi claim of Riyadh attack

The Saudi-led coalition spokesman says the Yemeni armed group is ‘attempting to divert attention’ from its losses.

The Houthis’ claims that the Iran-allied armed group has targeted Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh are “misleading”, according to the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki’s remarks came on Saturday after the Houthis claimed ballistic missile and drone attacks on an Aramco oil facility near Riyadh.

The group said the assault caused large fires as fighting between the Houthis and government forces intensifies in Yemen.

In remarks carried by Saudi media Asharq Al-Awsat late on Saturday, al-Maliki claimed that the Houthis are “attempting to divert attention from the scale of the losses and the growing public anger against them”.

‘Chaos and devastation’

The development comes after the Yemeni forces “executed ۲۵۷ precision targeting operations” against Houthi sites, movements, and military capabilities on Saturday, according to the spokesman for Yemen’s internationally recognised government forces, Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili.

He added that initial estimates indicate that the operations killed at least ۷۰۰ Houthi rebels.

Meanwhile, al-Maliki said the Houthis’ “ties to external agendas” have brought “chaos and devastation to Yemen”, adding that “what the Houthis are facing in Taiz … drive them to seek illusory victories”.

Early on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said its armed forces carried out ۹۷ “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.

The fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces has intensified since a fragile ۲۰۲۲ truce collapsed in July, displacing hundreds of thousands of people since then.

In mid-September, the Houthis seized the port city of Mocha and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a vital route for global oil shipments, before anti-Houthi forces stabilised front lines.

Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in ۲۰۱۴, forcing the Yemeni government to retreat to Aden.