In brief
Yemen’s Houthi movement claims to have fired six missiles and drones at Saudi oil refineries and airports on October 29, striking the Ras Tanura and Abqaiq refineries, the Rabigh refinery, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, and a military command center in Najran. The Saudi-led coalition reports intercepting three of the missiles, while Saudi civil defense teams recorded debris falling in Riyadh that injured a citizen and damaged property. The attacks are portrayed as retaliation for recent Saudi air strikes on Houthi-held areas.
On Thursday, October 29, the Yemen Houthi movement announced that it had launched six missile and drone attacks against Saudi oil and aviation facilities and a military position across the Arabian Peninsula.
The Houthis said that three ballistic missiles were fired at the Ras Tanura refinery and the Saudi Aramco facilities in Abqaiq, both located in the Eastern Province, as well as at the Rabigh refinery on the Red Sea coast.
The attacks also reportedly targeted the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with missiles and the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam with a drone, which the group said disrupted air traffic. An additional operation struck what the Houthi spokesperson described as a command center for Saudi military forces in the southern Najran border region, allegedly causing casualties among soldiers and officers.
Civil Defense response in Riyadh
The Saudi-led coalition’s General Directorate of Civil Defense reported that two ballistic missiles were intercepted as they approached Riyadh. Debris from the intercepted missiles fell in the city, where a citizen sustained minor injuries and a house and a vehicle were damaged.
The directorate’s teams followed standard procedures and rendered aid to the injured and to those whose property was affected.
According to Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea, the attacks were carried out in retaliation for recent Saudi air campaigns on Houthi-held areas in Yemen. The Saudi coalition said it had intercepted three of the Houthi missiles, two heading toward Riyadh and one toward the Eastern Province.
The timing of the strikes coincides with the escalating cross‑border conflict that has persisted since Yemen’s war in 2014, when Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and the Saudi‑led coalition intervened in 2015 to support the Yemeni government.
A Wikipedia entry on the 2026 Houthi attacks on Saudi airports notes that the series of operations led to the deaths of 22 people, a figure that remains unconfirmed by other sources and is presented as part of the broader context of the strikes.
