A new dangerous escalation in the Middle East, as the Houthis announced attacks on Riyadh and ARAMCO facilities, while Turkey and Pakistan are preparing to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni Ansar Allah rebel movement—also known by the surname of its leaders, the Houthis—which is aligned with Iran, announced yesterday, Monday, that it had struck the international airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, an oil refinery belonging to the Saudi oil giant ARAMCO, as well as various military and airport facilities in the southern part of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Turkey and Pakistan, which have signed a mutual defense agreement with Saudi Arabia, announced yesterday that they will deploy troops to the kingdom, which is frequently targeted by Ansar Allah attacks.

BREAKING: Houthis Claim Widespread Strikes Across Saudi Arabia.

Air traffic at Riyadh Airport disrupted; Aramco refinery, bases, and airports reportedly targeted.

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Airlines using Saudi airspace warned to remain alert.

Any escalation could put the Makkah Defense Pact to its first real test.

— Global Talks (@Gb__Talks) October 5, 2026

Riyadh and ARAMCO in the crosshairs

The attacks, primarily involving unmanned aerial vehicles, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, “targeted Riyadh International Airport,” said Yahya Saria, a spokesperson for Ansar Allah on military affairs, adding that “the ARAMCO refinery in Rabigh” was also targeted, as were military installations and airports in the southern part of the country.

Last night, loud explosions were heard in Riyadh, according to an Agence France-Presse reporter and local residents. “My windows were shaking,” said a resident living a short distance from the Saudi capital’s international airport.

At the same time, the Saudi-led coalition involved in the war in Yemen announced that it had struck “military targets” in Hodeidah, a major port on the Red Sea controlled by Ansar Allah.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki stated via X that naval forces destroyed “weapons depots, facilities where boats rigged with explosives and sea mines were stored,” assuring that “we have foiled a plot to carry out imminent attacks” in the southern Red Sea.

New Escalation in Yemen

Hostilities between troops of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Ansar Allah rebels, who have held power in much of Yemen for the past decade, resumed in July after several years of de-escalation, as the country became a new front in the broader war in the Middle East.

Following a lightning-fast advance in September, Ansar Allah seized control of the entire Yemeni coastline along the Red Sea in the western part of the country. At the same time, the rebels are targeting oil and military facilities in the neighboring kingdom on an almost daily basis.

Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces, which have so far struggled to repel the Houthi attacks, have repeatedly requested international support, especially from the U.S., though without success so far.

Turkey and Pakistan

Following a meeting in Riyadh, the governments of Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia agreed to “immediately implement the mutual defense agreement” signed in August in Mecca, and to “take the necessary measures,” including the “rapid deployment of forces and military assets” to be agreed upon, according to their joint statement.

The text does not mention Ansar Allah by name, however, it “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the attacks against Islam’s two holiest cities, Medina and Mecca, which were attributed to the Yemeni movement —which it denied—by Riyadh, as well as the “ongoing attacks against cities and political and economic facilities” of the kingdom.

This is the first time it has been announced that the agreement, which links the country to the second-largest army in NATO (Turkey) and the world’s only Muslim nuclear power (Pakistan), is being implemented.

“Unsafe” Airspace

With support from the Saudi Air Force, Yemeni government forces announced last Sunday that they are launching a large-scale counteroffensive to recapture from Ansar Allah, initially, the territories it had seizedand subsequently the entire country.

They announced that they had carried out more than 1,000 strikes and launched an offensive toward the capital, Sana’a, which has been under Ansar Allah’s control since 2015.

For its part, the movement warned airlines that Saudi Arabia’s airspace is not “safe,” with the exception of the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, which it insists have never been targeted.

The day before yesterday, the strategically important East-West oil pipelineEast-West pipeline—which allows Saudi Arabia to export oil trapped in its eastern region following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz— was also targeted and its operations suspended—something that had already happened last month.

The Saudi giant ARAMCO warned against the “dangerously low” level of global crude oil reserves.

The Riyadh-led coalition also stated that it “guarantees the protection of the airspace over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” which is critical for the transport of hydrocarbons.

In September, the Houthis had strengthened their control over the strait, the importance of which was further heightened by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, following the outbreak of war in the Middle East in February.

Fighting along the Yemeni coastline

Fighting between government troops and Ansar Allah is raging along the Yemeni coastline, where military sources reported yesterday that the only supply route leading to Mocha—which the rebels seized in September—had been cut off, though they refrained from officially confirming reports that this strategically important port had been recaptured.

Source: iefimerida.gr