Houthis claim missile strikes on Saudi oil sites and airports; Saudi Civil Defence says two intercepted

Tension that has been building in West Asia for several days has reached a highly dangerous point. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have claimed they launched successive missile attacks on Saudi Arabia's economic and key infrastructure. A Houthi military spokesperson said the targets included major Saudi oil refineries, energy projects and international airports.

According to an official statement issued by the spokesperson, two separate rounds of missiles were fired at Saudi Aramco's Yanbu facility, the main refinery at Rabigh and King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh. The Houthis also said airports at Dammam in the east and Najran in the south were attacked. The claims have created fear and concern across the Middle East.

According to information provided by Saudi Civil Defence, Saudi Arabia's air defence system intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles and blew them up in the air. Even so, some areas were affected. Explosive fragments of the missiles fell in the provinces of Mecca and Medina, which are highly sensitive from a security point of view and sacred to Muslims around the world. The fragments fell in the Wadi Mughamas area near the city of Mecca and close to residential neighbourhoods in Medina. Local Civil Defence teams reached the spots immediately and began clearing the debris safely.

Saudi officials have not commented directly on the attacks, but have indirectly acknowledged as correct the reports that missile fragments were found near some refineries.

The Houthis say the attacks are retaliation for air strikes carried out by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. They allege that forces of the Saudi-led coalition separately attacked residential neighbourhoods and key sites in Yemen, killing more than a dozen innocent people. According to the Houthis, they responded by striking at Saudi Arabia's economic lifeline, its oil refineries, and at air traffic. The Riyadh administration has not accepted responsibility for any alleged attack in Yemen.

The fighting has not stopped at Saudi Arabia. Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government says the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard posts in Aden, the key port city in southern Yemen. The port of Aden is considered a major centre of the region's maritime trade, so questions have again been raised about maritime security in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The tension has had a direct impact on air travel. With missile and drone activity increasing in Saudi skies, several major Indian airlines, including Air India, have cancelled or postponed their flights to Riyadh, Dammam and nearby cities for now. Saudi Arabia is home to large numbers of Indian workers, businesspeople and pilgrims who have gone for Umrah, so thousands of passengers are stranded and their travel plans disrupted.

Saudi Arabia is among the world's largest producers and exporters of crude oil. Reports of a missile attack attempt on the Aramco facility and the Rabigh refinery have raised concern in the international oil market. If the attacks continue and the oil supply chain is broken, there are fears that crude prices could rise sharply, which could directly or indirectly affect fuel prices in India.

The United Nations and the international community have appealed to both sides to keep the peace and not to target civilian infrastructure. But both sides continue to take a warlike stance, so the regional conflict risks taking a still more severe turn.