Yemen government forces say struck Houthi targets

Yemen's government forces announced on Sunday that they had launched strikes against Houthi targets throughout the country, intensifying the conflict that has engulfed one of the world's poorest nations and its surrounding region. Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili, a military spokesman, reported that the armed forces targeted the Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate Saada – a stronghold for the group – and Taiz in the southwest.

The conflict resurfaced in July after a period of peace, with the Iran-backed Houthis controlling most of northwest Yemen, including Sanaa, clashing with Yemen's internationally recognized Saudi-backed government based in Aden, which holds sway over the southern and eastern regions. The strikes occurred shortly after the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on an oil facility near Saudi Arabia's capital, with eyewitnesses observing flames and smoke at the site.

The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of conducting dozens of airstrikes on Sanaa, though these claims were reported without specifics on the targets or casualties. Multiple correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing explosions and observing warplanes firing missiles at the city. The Saudi authorities have yet to confirm these allegations.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, flames and smoke were visible rising from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh on Saturday afternoon, according to an AFP journalist. Yemen's Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, claimed that the group had targeted an oil facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, causing fires at the targeted sites.

The AFP journalist reported seeing firefighters attempting to extinguish a blaze at Aramco's Riyadh refinery, along with ambulances and police vehicles stationed nearby.