Il Nuovo Postiglione - Houthis say targeted Saudi oil giant Aramco, vow more attacks

Powerful explosions also rattled the Saudi capital, as the coalition fighting the Houthis said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Iran-backed group towards Riyadh.

The world's top crude oil exporter has in recent days come under sustained attack, including a strike on Riyadh's international airport that was the deadliest in years, as the war with the Houthis dramatically escalates.

It has hit back with strikes against the group's stronghold in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which for years has been under their grip.

Yahya Saree, Houthi military spokesman, said their forces had conducted "a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran", as well as strikes targeting Riyadh airport and a refinery in the capital.

He added the attacks were carried out with missiles and drones, and that operations "will continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi enemy airports and oil facilities".

Earlier, a Saudi energy ministry official said a building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was struck, resulting in a "limited fire" but "no casualties or fatalities".

Dhahran is home to Aramco's headquarters, a vast complex comprising numerous buildings and residential compounds.

According to two company employees who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, a tower in the headquarters was hit overnight.

The "top three floors have gone", one of them said.

A second source briefed on the matter confirmed the strike and that the building was hit.

AFP has not been granted access to the site and was not able to independently verify the degree of damage.

- 'We heard an explosion' -

Most strikes on Saudi Arabia have targeted infrastructure on the outskirts of the capital, but the barrages appear to be getting closer to the city centre.

In the city's downtown, residents have been seen parking their cars to stop and look up at the sky, an AFP journalist said.

On Tuesday night, the white plumes of air defence missiles could be seen streaking overhead followed by explosions.

While walking down a major avenue, a witness told AFP he "saw a projectile cutting across the sky" above a mall, saying it left "a yellowish trail of light followed by a trail of smoke. Then, we heard an explosion."

"People were calm; no one was speaking. We were scared and all looking up at the sky," he added, requesting anonymity.

More blasts were heard on Wednesday, AFP journalists in Riyadh reported, as phone alerts warned of an "aerial threat" and urged people to take shelter.

The Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, struck oil sites across western Yemen on Tuesday, with spokesman Turki Al-Malki saying the attacks targeted facilities used to "threaten the kingdom, Yemen, the southern Red Sea and waterways".

The coalition has supported Yemen's government militarily against the Houthis since 2015 in a long-running civil war that has created a humanitarian crisis.

Many civilians in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, fearing shortages, have rushed to queue in front of fuel stations, an AFP journalist said.

- Renewed threats -

The latest escalation follows a strike on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday that left 13 people dead in the worst attack on the kingdom since 2015.

The Saudi cabinet vowed in a meeting led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that it "will not allow its security or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait to be threatened".

Traffic in perennially gridlocked Riyadh was noticeably lighter this week as remote learning for all schools and work-from-home orders for some companies took effect, according to AFP journalists.

The Saudi Arabian football league (SPL) said it has postponed three fixtures, including one involving Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.

Organisers also announced that the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, originally slated to start next week, would be pushed back to December.

But the kingdom plans to move ahead later this month with a major investment conference in Riyadh dubbed "Davos in the desert" despite the Houthi attacks, offering on-site and virtual attendance as well as alternative air and land travel routes, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Iran's chokehold on Hormuz since the start of the Middle East war with the United States and Israel in February has caused trade headwinds for Saudi Arabia.

But the restart in July of Yemen's frozen war has brought the fight to its own soil, with Houthi attacks in the Red Sea also harming the kingdom's alternative export route.

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T.Barbieri--INP