Houthis Hit Aramco Building in Dhahran Hours After Saudi Strike on Sanaa Oil Site

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked an administrative building belonging to Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco, in the eastern city of Dhahran, just hours after the Saudi-led coalition struck an oil facility in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said the Tuesday night attack caused a "limited fire" at the building. Authorities brought it under control, and no casualties were reported. The state news agency SPA carried the statement, citing a ministry official.

The Saudi-led coalition ordered civilians to leave the al-Sabaha central station in Sanaa and struck the site soon afterward. Al Jazeera correspondent Youssef Mawry said his team heard explosions during the attack, and large plumes of smoke were seen rising on the outskirts of the city. According to Mawry, the coalition also hit fuel tanks at Ras Isa port on the Red Sea and another oil facility in Hodeidah province.

Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki alleged that the Houthis were using the site and its underground depot to store missiles and drones. The coalition said the operation aimed to neutralize the Houthis' capabilities. Yemen's oil company, for its part, said its storage tanks had been emptied beforehand and that fuel supplies to civilians would not be affected. Even so, witnesses reported long lines of cars at petrol stations in Sanaa amid fears of shortages.

Earlier on Tuesday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree declared Saudi oil facilities "legitimate targets" and urged workers and civilians nearby to leave. He warned that any strike on Sanaa would draw a "harsh and painful" response in Riyadh. The sites he named included Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and an Aramco-linked refinery in the capital.

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted several missiles fired toward Riyadh on Tuesday evening. Saudi Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted missiles injured four people in Riyadh, two women, a man and a child, and caused limited damage to 15 homes.

Citing an Aramco source, Reuters reported that a ballistic missile struck the company's headquarters complex in Dhahran, which houses a major operations center overseeing the company's onshore and offshore rigs, pipelines, refineries and export terminals. Saudi authorities, however, have confirmed only an attack on an administrative building. The coalition's evacuation order for Sanaa is its first since the war reignited in July, and the exchange comes after a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi sites, including Riyadh's airport.