Ansarallah fighters targeted energy infrastructure in the heart of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, utilizing ballistic missiles and drones in a retaliatory operation. Military spokesman Yahya Saree announced that the strike on a Saudi Aramco refinery was a direct response to 60 Saudi airstrikes against Yemen in the previous 24 hours. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery showed at least three oil storage tanks on fire, creating a plume of smoke that reached 107 km in length at its peak.

The attack on the 125,000 b/d facility is the first such hit on a Riyadh installation since March 2022. While Aramco and the Saudi government have not officially confirmed the causes or damage, the incident coincided with Saudi bombing missions in Sana'a that hit Al-Sabeen Maternity and Childhood Hospital. Houthi officials warned that further Saudi escalation will be met with retaliation in kind.