Headquarters of Saudi Aramco hit as Houthis and Riyadh trade strikes

By Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

(CNN) — Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis traded fresh strikes Wednesday, with the Iran-backed group targeting the Saudi capital and claiming responsibility for an attack on the headquarters of state oil giant Aramco.

Saudi authorities said an administrative building belonging to Aramco in the city of Dhahran, where the company is headquartered, was targeted. It caused a limited fire, but it was not immediately clear whether the building was directly hit or damaged by falling debris from intercepted missiles. No injuries were reported.

The Saudi-led coalition also said it had intercepted and destroyed three cruise missiles and two drones targeting the Riyadh region and southern Saudi Arabia. At least four people were injured from falling debris, according to Saudi authorities.

Striking Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest crude oil producer, threatens the backbone of the kingdom’s economy and a critical source of global energy supplies.

CNN has reached out to Saudi Aramco for comment.

The attack marked the latest escalation between the two sides, following a week of deadly Houthi missile and drone attacks that shut Riyadh’s main international airport.

Saudi Arabia attacked a key fuel depot in Yemen on Tuesday, which it claimed was being used by Houthi rebels to support strikes on the kingdom’s airports and energy facilities – as well as attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthi-controlled Yemen Oil Company said the facility held no petroleum products and that an attack would not affect fuel reserves or supplies.

Those strikes killed two civilians and injured two, according to the Houthis, though the Saudi-led coalition insisted it had warned civilians to leave the area beforehand.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition said that Saudi defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh.

Later in the day, the Houthis said they would continue targeting Saudi airports and oil facilities and warned international shipping companies and personnel working at these sites to stay away, saying they had become “legitimate targets” for their forces.

The exchanges come amid signs that the long-running conflict, which reignited this summer and intensified last month after years of relative calm, continues to escalate.

On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted a ballistic missile launched toward its eastern province, and another aimed at Haradh near the Yemeni border. It also reported intercepting three Houthi drones north of Riyadh.

Meanwhile, Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that artillery fire by the Saudi-led coalition in Saada province wounded three Yemenis and two African residents in Baqim district. It later reported that two civilians were killed and two others wounded by artillery fire on residential villages in the border district of Shada in Sadaa, and also reported strikes in Sanaa and several other provinces. CNN cannot independently verify the reports.

The conflict has been intensifying since the Houthis announced in July that they would target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea as well as infrastructure inside the kingdom.

Those attacks have stepped up in recent days, including with repeated strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, where 13 people were killed and more than 300 wounded on Saturday in what was the deadliest attack on Saudi Arabia in more than a decade.

The US, UK, Spain and Canada are among countries now warning their citizens against using the airport. Meanwhile, the US State Department on Tuesday expanded travel restrictions for US government personnel in the kingdom, saying employees now require special authorization from the chief of mission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia.

The attacks have also exposed vulnerabilities in the kingdom’s defense capabilities as it wages an air campaign in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is fighting the Houthis on the ground.

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CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Sarah Tamimi contributed to this report.