The Iran-backed Houthis said they fired missiles and drones at Riyadh on November 8 as Saudi Arabia sought troops from Syria’s new government. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said falling shrapnel from an “attempted attack” caused minor damage to a Saudi Aramco administrative building in the King Abdullah Financial District. No casualties were reported.
The Houthis said they carried out “four qualitative military operations” that included ballistic and cruise missile launches. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said Saudi air defenses destroyed two ballistic missiles fired at Riyadh and that coalition forces destroyed two launchers in Saada that were used in the attack.
The day before, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed six operations targeting Aramco facilities, Riyadh’s airport, and Saudi troops on both sides of the Saudi-Yemeni border. He said the Houthis were imposing “blockade for blockade” and “escalation for escalation.”
The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, and a Saudi-led coalition entered the war in 2015 to support Yemen’s government. A truce began in 2022. Fighting resumed in July 2026 after the Houthis allowed an Iranian plane to land in Sanaa, defying Saudi control of Yemen’s airspace.
The Houthis then declared a blockade of Saudi Arabia and began striking Saudi ships, territory, and oil facilities. In September, they seized territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The Saudi front is part of the wider regional war that began in February when the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in July.
The State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, effective October 23. A November 3 U.S. Embassy alert cited Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure that caused civilian casualties. U.S. government employees are barred from traveling within 20 miles of the Yemen border.
In early October, a U.S. official told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had asked Syria to deploy forces against the Houthis. The request reportedly came up during Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Riyadh meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. A Syrian diplomat said at the time that Syria “stands with Saudi Arabia in the face of Houthi attacks.”
