Houthis Mount Another Large Missile Assault On Riyadh & East-West Pipeline

On Tuesday the Houthis launched another major missile salvo deep inside Saudi Arabia, however Saudi authorities have yet to acknowledge the fresh attack, or to publicly assess possible damage – though there are reports of missile alerts in the kingdom.

The Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, announced the group once again targeted King Khalid International Airport, as well as multiple pumping stations along the kingdom’s East-West pipeline.

Saree further claimed fresh attacks on an Aramco facility in Abqaiq and the Riyadh’s financial district.

He added that the Houthis “targeted Saudi enemy troop concentrations overseen by the Saudi officer Badr al-Harbi in the al-Mudharabah and Ras al-Arah districts, resulting in a large number of dead and wounded.”

It’s unclear whether the financial district attack was a reference from the day prior, when a Houthi attack damaged an Aramco office in Riyadh.

What’s clear is that these cross-border attacks are coming daily, and the Saudis seem powerfless to stop them, and there’s been no major military help coming from Western allies like the US or UK (only minimal assistance, for example – intelligence cooperation).

The Saudis on Tuesday confirmed missile defenses are active:

Air defences have intercepted and destroyed several missiles launched towards southern Saudi Arabia and Riyadh, according to the Saudi-led coalition currently fighting the Houthis in Yemen.

The coalition also indicated that it intercepted a drone over Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

This is having a serious impact on the kingdom’s economy, at a sensitive moment that Gulf states in general are seeking to present themselves as places of ‘stability’ and ripe for investment.

Saree warns investors and companies against “keeping their investments in Saudi Arabia”.

In the meantime, standard and high profile events hosted in the kingdom continue getting canceled, due to spillover from Yemen and the ever-present Houthi aerial attack threat.

Already dozens of major international events which were supposed to take place in September, and October and November have been suspended or else postponed. 

Damage in financial district from a prior assault which kicked off the week:

The wartime situation related to both Iran and Yemen is likely to cost Saudi Arabia billions in losses, including given the attacks on Aramco facilities.

The Houthis are also meanwhile blocking all Saudi and Israeli-related shipping off Yemen’s coast in the Red Sea, and the situation shows no signs off an offramp.