Houthis claim Saudi airport and Aramco drone strikes

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Thursday they used drones to target Najran Airport and an Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran region, near the Yemeni border.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Telegram that the group carried out two drone operations. He said one targeted what he called a sensitive Saudi site at Najran Airport and the other targeted the Aramco facility in Najran.

The Houthis are backed by Iran. Aramco is Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant.

Earlier Thursday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that Saudi Arabia would be “unable to contain” the Houthis as the rebels increased attacks on the kingdom.

Yemen has been in civil conflict for more than a decade. In July, renewed Houthi attacks upended a 2022 truce with Yemen's Saudi-backed government.

This week, a Yemeni minister told AFP that the Houthis were plotting to seize land along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which would allow them to further threaten the shipping route. Three Houthi military sources and a spokesman for Yemeni government forces battling them near the waterway also told AFP the rebels were planning to advance south from their current territory.

Hostilities resumed last month after the Houthis welcomed an Iranian plane in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, setting off tit-for-tat attacks. The Houthis later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships, airports and oil facilities.