Illustrative image, source: the Houthis media wing.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah) have claimed responsibility for the large-scale drone and missile attack that targeted Saudi Arabia on March 25.
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Yemeni group, said that the large-scale attack, codenamed “Operation Breaking the Siege 3,” was a response to the Saudi-led coalition’s continuous siege on Yemen.
During the operation suicide drones, cruise and ballistic missiles were launched at vital targets and facilities of Saudi oil giant, Armaco, in the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, as well as in the western cities of Jeddah and Rabigh, the eastern city of Ras Tanura and the southern cities of Jizan, Najran, Dhahran, Khamis Mushait and Abha.
“The armed forces will carry out more qualitative strikes … to break the siege,” Brig. Gen. Sari said, “and it will not hesitate to expand its military operations until the aggression stops and the siege is lifted.”
The Saudi-led coalition said in a series of statements that its forces had intercepted 12 suicide drones and a ballistic missile.
“Today’s hostile attacks were launched from Sana’a International Airport [in central Yemen] and the [western Yemeni] province of al-Hudaydah,” the coalition’s last statement reads.
Despite some successful interceptions, Saudi Arabia acknowledged that a number of vital facilities, including an oil storage facility of Aramco in Jeddah, were struck. However, the kingdom didn’t report any casualties.
This was the third large-scale attack by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia in less than a month. Between March 9 and 10, the group carried out “Operation Breaking the Siege 1,” and between March 19 and 20, “Operation Breaking the Siege 2” was conducted.
The Saudi-led coalition has not responded to the Houthis’ recent attacks yet, supposedly to facilitate a new peace initiative for Yemen led by the Kingdom.
