The Houthi rebel forces of Yemen communicated this Sunday the launch of two new attacks against refineries of the Saudi state oil company Aramco. According to a military spokesman for the movement, these actions would be a reprisal for a series of bombings carried out by Saudi aviation against their positions in Yemeni territory.
The Houthis began an offensive on September 3 in areas of the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida and, since then, have consolidated significant advances on the ground. Among them is the control of the city of Mocha and the surroundings of the Bab el Mandeb strait, which represents a serious setback for the internationally recognized authorities, led by President Rashad Al Alimi from the city of Aden.
During this weekend, violence has notably intensified, especially in the fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi forces, which support the government based in Aden. Both sides have exchanged powerful bombardments that have reached the vicinity of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as well as the Saudi regions of Asir — where one person has been injured — and Najran.
In light of the worsening front, the president of Yemen also announced this Sunday the start of a broad counteroffensive aimed at expelling the Houthi insurgents from Sana'a, under their control for more than ten years, and defeating the Ansarollah movement, supported by Iran, throughout the national territory.
Awaiting an official reaction from Riyadh regarding the attacks this Sunday, the spokesman for the Houthi forces, Colonel Yahya Sari, detailed two operations: the first, directed against an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital, and the second, against another refinery located in the Jurais area.
"Both operations successfully achieved their objectives and the attacks were precise, causing large fires in the affected places," he pointed out. The Houthis had already proclaimed on Saturday bombings against other infrastructures of the Saudi state company, claims that were rejected by military spokesmen of the kingdom.
At the same time, Sari denounced that the Saudi fighter jets, which support the Yemeni government displaced to Aden and recognized by the international community, have carried out about fifty incursions against the capital Sana'a and the provinces of Al Jawf, Taiz, Amran, Haya, and Saada.
This military upsurge takes place after more than a decade of civil war, which began when the Houthis took control of Sana'a and large areas of the country at the end of 2014, a conflict that has ultimately devastated one of the poorest states on the planet.
In recent years, the conflict had taken a back seat, with a relative reduction in fighting, some prisoner exchanges, and less visible tension, while the military operations of the Houthis against Israel and maritime traffic in the Red Sea on orders from Iran and as a show of support for the Palestinian cause gained prominence.