In brief
A Saudi‑led coalition has bombed a fuel storage facility near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, accusing the Houthi movement of using the site to fuel attacks on Saudi Arabia. The strike follows warning of a "special operation" and precedes Houthi claims that the depot had already been struck. In response, the Houthis threatened reprisals against Saudi oil and airport infrastructure, while the coalition has logged several drone and missile hits on Riyadh recently. The event underscores the fragile ceasefire that broke down last month and the ongoing humanitarian toll in Yemen, where thousands have been killed and millions displaced.
In a major escalation, the Saudi‑led coalition fired on a fuel depot in the Houthi‑controlled area near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. The coalition’s spokesperson, Maj Gen Turki al‑Maliki, said the facility, operated by the Yemen Petroleum Company, is being used to supply weapons for Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi territory.
Before the strike, the coalition had urged civilians to evacuate the site, describing the operation as “special.” Houthi media reported that the depot had already been hit, before the coalition confirmed the attack. The Houthis warned that retaliation could target Riyadh’s Aramco refinery and the kingdom’s airports.
These tensions come after Salm’s Airforce‑backed coalition destroyed three drones north of Riyadh and after the Kingdom registered two deaths from a missile strike on King Khalid International Airport. The coalition’s actions are part of sustained air support for Yemeni pro‑government forces in the Red Sea and other fronts.
The Yemen civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa, entered a new phase last July after a Houthi‑backed maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia prompted a surge of missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil and airport sites. The conflict’s brutality has displaced over 216,000 people and caused dozens of civilian casualties, including many children, according to the UN rights office.
An image from the evening shows a man on a motorcycle passing a petrol station in Sanaa, with a herd of camels in the background, underscoring how normal life in the capital is now set against the backdrop of ongoing strikes and shortages.
