The Evacuation Order in Sanaa
The coalition's joint forces command told civilians to leave the area around the Al Sabaha central fuel station of the Yemen Petroleum Company, on the western outskirts of Sanaa, and published a map of the site. It did not say when it would act.
An unnamed Houthi military source responded by threatening Saudi Arabia's entire oil sector. Any Saudi attack, the source warned, would bring lasting strategic and economic consequences for Riyadh.
Three Named Targets
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree then threatened to strike three Saudi targets if the attack on Sanaa went ahead: Saudi Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran, in the Dammam area, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Aramco's refinery in Riyadh.
He later released evacuation maps for all three sites, and the Houthis repeated their warnings to workers at Saudi oil installations. On the same day, coalition spokesman Turki al Maliki said three drones had been intercepted and destroyed north of Riyadh.
Reported Strike on Al Sabaha
Al Masirah, the Houthis' television channel, later reported that Saudi Arabia had struck the oil company facility in Al Sabaha, west of Sanaa. An AFP correspondent in the city reported hearing an explosion.
The coalition had not publicly confirmed a strike, and no information on damage or casualties had been released. The account of the strike therefore comes from Houthi media alone.
A Wave of Attacks on the Kingdom
The threats follow a series of Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom. Saudi authorities said a missile attack on King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, October 10, killed 13 people and injured more than 300.
For Israel, the escalation involves a familiar enemy. Since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israeli cities and attacked international shipping in the Red Sea. They now threaten the region's largest oil producer with the same weapons.
What Happens Next
It remains unclear whether the coalition will continue strikes in Sanaa and whether the Houthis will act on their threats against Aramco and the Riyadh airport. A successful attack on Aramco's main sites could affect global oil supplies, as the 2019 attack on the Abqaiq and Khurais facilities, claimed by the Houthis, showed.
