The Yemeni army announces the implementation of strikes against the Houthis in Sanaa, and the Ansar Allah group says it targeted an Aramco facility in Riyadh.
Published 3 October 2026, 12:38 GMT
Last updated 1 minute ago
Reading time: 6 minutes
The Yemeni Armed Forces said early Sunday that they were carrying out strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthis in the capital, Sanaa, and the group's stronghold in Saada.
A Yemeni army spokesman said that the forces were targeting what he described as “vital targets,” without providing further details.
Al-Masirah TV, affiliated with the Ansar Allah Houthi group, reported early on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had launched an attack on the capital, Sanaa.
There has been no confirmation yet from the Saudi side.
The Ansar Allah group accused Saudi Arabia of launching 26 air strikes on the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, on Saturday, while the Yemeni army affiliated with the internationally recognized government announced the implementation of an operation against military targets in the city, while the group announced that it had targeted an Aramco facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, after a fire was seen in the company’s refinery south of the Saudi capital.
The group's Al-Masirah channel reported that Saudi aircraft targeted Sanaa with 26 raids, without providing details about the targeted sites or human losses. Agence France-Presse reported that there were strong explosions and warplanes firing missiles at the city.
For his part, the spokesman for the Yemeni army, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, said that the army carried out an operation against what he described as “vital and legitimate military targets” in Sanaa, according to the government’s Saba news agency.
On Saturday evening, the Ansar Allah group announced that it had targeted an Aramco facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones.
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The group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said that its forces carried out a large-scale military operation using a number of ballistic missiles and drones, and described the strikes as "accurate and direct," adding that they caused fires to break out in the targeted sites.
On Saturday afternoon, Agence France-Presse reported that flames and smoke were rising from Aramco’s Riyadh refinery south of the capital, and that firefighting teams were trying to put out the fire, while ambulances and police were stationed near the facility.
There was no immediate comment from the Saudi authorities on the fire, according to Agence France-Presse. It was not possible to independently confirm that the targeting announced by the group was the cause of the fire.
Last week, the Ansar Allah group announced targeting Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said at the time that it intercepted six ballistic missiles launched by the group towards Taif and the Yanbu region, without announcing any damage to the company’s facilities.
Al-Masirah TV also reported, on Saturday, that the communications network in Saada Governorate, northwest of Yemen, was targeted by missile strikes.
These developments come after Reuters quoted regional and Western officials that Saudi Arabia is planning to launch an attack on the Ansar Allah group in the coming weeks, led by Yemeni forces on the ground with support from Saudi air strikes.
The Civil Defense said, early Saturday, that the missile was intercepted in Ahad Rufaidah Governorate in the Asir region, south of the Kingdom, and that its fragments injured a person.
This came the day after the Saudi authorities announced that a projectile fired by the Ansar Allah group had fallen on a school in the city of Najran, bordering Yemen, causing material damage. The Civil Defense published pictures that it said showed the damage to the school.
On Friday, the Saudi-led military coalition announced the interception and destruction of four ballistic missiles launched by the Ansar Allah group towards Khamis Mushait, while the group accused Riyadh of carrying out dozens of air and missile strikes on areas under its control in Yemen.
In conjunction with the military escalation, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that Iran had proposed political engagement with the Ansar Allah group, and that a committee affiliated with the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement would discuss the proposal in an emergency meeting in Riyadh next week, as an alternative to military action.
What do sources say about the planned attack?
Reuters quoted six people familiar with the preparations as saying that Yemeni forces supervised by Riyadh would lead the operation on the ground, with support from Saudi air strikes.
They said that one of the main goals of the operation is to stop the rapid gains made by the Ansar Allah group last month, when it advanced on the coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait area.
According to Gulf and Yemeni officials, Saudi Arabia is considering two options: a limited attack on the area surrounding the strait, or a broader operation that includes simultaneous attacks on multiple fronts in the governorates of Al-Bayda, Ma’rib, Taiz, and Al-Jawf.
It is expected that American support for the operation will be limited to providing intelligence information, while Türkiye, Pakistan and France have provided defensive military assistance to the Kingdom, according to Reuters.
Two Pakistani officials said that last month, their country sent four cargo planes loaded with military equipment to Aden, the headquarters of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, in addition to deploying between 30 and 40 thousand Pakistani soldiers in the Kingdom to help defend its land borders.
Saudi Arabia purchased Turkish drones before the current war, and these drones were also deployed over Yemen. France announced that it would send defense systems and forces to help protect the Saudi city of Yanbu overlooking the Red Sea.
In Washington, Axios reported on Friday that senior members of President Donald Trump's administration held a "secret meeting" chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance at the presidential retreat at Camp David, to discuss the next steps regarding the war with Iran and the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Ansar Allah group.
Dozens of deaths in Taiz and accusations of launching raids on civilian areas
On the ground, violent battles continued on Friday between the Ansar Allah group and the Yemeni government forces on several fronts in the countryside of Taiz Governorate, especially the areas overlooking the western coast, which the group took control of more than two weeks ago.
Military sources in the Ansar Allah group told Agence France-Presse that 55 fighters from the group were killed during the previous 24 hours, while government military sources reported that 26 soldiers from the government forces were killed during the same period.
Military sources in the Yemeni government reported that, on Thursday, the Ansar Allah group blew up a small bridge on the only road linking Taiz and Aden, which led to the cessation of traffic and transportation.
The renewed fighting has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as the World Food Program warned on Friday that three-quarters of the population are unable to meet their basic food needs.
Experts and observers say that the group is working to isolate the city of Taiz, the third largest city in Yemen in terms of population, and it is still in the hands of government forces, while the Ansar Allah group controls several areas in its vicinity.
The spokesman for the Yemeni forces affiliated with the internationally recognized government said that the forces carried out "71 precise targeting operations" against gatherings and reinforcements of the Ansar Allah group in several areas of the governorate. He added that the operations destroyed means of transportation and support and made the targeted formations lose the ability to continue fighting, according to his account.
The government's Saba news agency also reported that air strikes were carried out targeting the movements, vehicles and gatherings of the Ansar Allah group in Taiz.
On the other hand, the military spokesman for the Ansar Allah group, Yahya Saree, accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out “94 air and missile strikes” within twenty-four hours, which he said targeted civilian facilities in Sanaa, Saada, Taiz, Hajjah, Amran, and Ibb, and caused civilian deaths and injuries.
He added that F-15 and Typhoon planes took off from the Khamis Mushait and Taif bases to carry out the strikes, and that the missiles were launched from Najran and Jizan. He said that the total Saudi strikes since the start of the escalation amounted to "1,350 air and missile strikes."
Iranian proposal for the political track
Regarding the Iranian proposal, Dar said: “There is no coherent written offer. The matter is still in the process of exchanging ideas between two foreign ministers,” describing it as a proposal presented in good faith, which will be discussed as an alternative to “military action.”
Yemen has witnessed an escalation since July, when a truce concluded in 2022 between the Ansar Allah group and the Yemeni government collapsed. The group later announced the imposition of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in response to the air blockade imposed by the coalition led by Riyadh, and resumed targeting its tankers and oil facilities.
Over the past weeks, the Ansar Allah group has expanded its control to include the entire western coast overlooking the Red Sea, including the Bab al-Mandab region, which has gained increasing importance for Riyadh in exporting its oil, in light of Iran’s restriction of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
