Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Sites, Airports Escalate

The Houthi attacks on Saudi oil sites and airports widened on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, when Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it fired ballistic missiles and drones at seven targets across Saudi Arabia, including Aramco facilities on the Red Sea coast and the main airports in Riyadh and Dammam. Saudi Arabia confirmed interceptions and falling debris but did not confirm any hits on the named oil sites.

The exchange is the latest round in a Saudi-Houthi conflict that reignited during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran and has broken the UN-brokered truce of 2022. The Boston Report has tracked the escalation since the U.S. State Department ordered some diplomats out of Saudi Arabia after an attack near Dammam’s airport.

What the Houthis say they hit

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group launched seven operations on Saturday. By his account, they targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Petro Rabigh refinery, crude oil pumping stations on the East-West Pipeline, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Najran airport and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait !Unverified claim, Yahya Saree (Houthi military spokesman). The Houthi-run Saba news agency published the same list and described every strike as precise, adding that the Dammam strike disrupted air traffic !Unverified claim, Saba (Houthi-run).

Saree framed the attacks as retaliation. He said Saudi-led forces had carried out 100 airstrikes on Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas in the previous 24 hours and 3,123 airstrikes and missile attacks since the current escalation began !Unverified claim, Yahya Saree (Houthi military spokesman). Those figures could not be independently checked.

What Saudi Arabia confirmed

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed two Houthi ballistic missiles fired toward Taif and Yanbu on Saturday, according to Reuters reporting carried by The Straits Times. Saudi Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted missiles aimed at the Mecca and Medina regions fell in four places: Wadi al-Mughammas in Mecca, the al-Nuzha district of Jeddah, Wadi Jalil in Taif and Masturah in Rabigh, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

Saudi state channel AlEkhbariya said fragments of one missile landed in Wadi al-Mughammas near the holy site of Arafat, about 23 kilometers from the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Civil Defense briefly sent danger alerts to residents of Taif, Yanbu, Mecca and Jeddah before saying the threat had passed about 10 minutes later. Saudi officials did not say whether any of the oil sites named by the Houthis were damaged, and it was not clear whether any of the claimed strikes reached their targets.

A second front in Aden and Taiz

The fighting also hit Yemen itself. The interior ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government said Houthi ballistic missiles struck a Coast Guard building at its headquarters near Aden International Airport and another Coast Guard building in Aden’s Tawahi district, according to the Institute for the Study of War and the Critical Threats Project. The Coast Guard monitors and stops Houthi maritime smuggling, and ISW noted that Saudi Arabia has stepped up strikes on Houthi smuggling boats in the Red Sea since Oct. 16.

Around Taiz, the Houthis have encircled the city since Oct. 12. ISW said some Houthi-aligned activists and officers are now publicly urging a full ground assault, arguing that a long siege gives government forces time to regroup. Government-aligned forces have claimed local gains southwest of the city, which ISW said it could not verify.

Why the East-West Pipeline matters

The East-West Pipeline carries crude from Saudi Arabia’s eastern oil fields to export terminals at Yanbu on the Red Sea. It has become more important while tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains dangerous, because it lets Saudi oil bypass the Gulf. Any confirmed damage to its pumping stations or to Yanbu would hit one of the few routes still moving Gulf oil without passing Iran. Oil traders have been watching closely; Brent crude touched its highest level since April last week, and analysts quoted by The Guardian pointed to intensified Houthi attacks on Saudi facilities as one reason. Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s recent security cooperation, covered in our report on the Turkey-Saudi defense pact, is part of the same regional picture.

The Houthis say they want Riyadh to lift controls on Houthi-held ports and airports and to hand them control of Yemen’s oil and gas resources, according to ISW. Earlier this month the group warned airlines against using Saudi airspace, exempting only the skies over Mecca and Medina. Saudi Arabia has accused the Houthis of targeting the holy cities, which the group denies.

What to watch next

Key questions for the coming days are whether Saudi Aramco reports any damage at Yanbu or Rabigh, whether flights at Riyadh and Dammam are disrupted, and whether a renewed U.S. strike on Iran, which President Donald Trump has publicly floated, pulls the Houthis into an even wider campaign. For now, the Houthi strike claims remain unconfirmed by Saudi authorities, while the debris falling near Mecca shows how close the conflict has come to Islam’s holiest sites.

Sources

• The Straits Times (Reuters): Houthis attack Saudi oil sites as Yemen clashes intensify
• Anadolu Agency: Houthis claim to have struck Saudi airports, oil facilities
• ISW and Critical Threats: Iran Update, October 24, 2026
• ABC News (Australia): Houthis claim attacks on Saudi airports, oil pipelines
• The Guardian: Oil price rises above $117 a barrel
• Saba (Houthi-run): statement on seven operations