Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia stepped up again on Monday, October 26. The Yemeni group said it had targeted pumping stations on the kingdom’s East-West oil pipeline and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm those claims, Reuters reported. The Saudi-led coalition said it had hit missile launchers in Sanaa.
Key facts (as of October 2026)
- The Houthis claimed strikes on East-West pipeline pumping stations and Riyadh’s main airport on October 26; there was no immediate Saudi confirmation, according to Reuters.
- The coalition said it destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa, one of them used to fire a missile at Riyadh that Saudi air defenses intercepted.
- The East-West pipeline runs about 1,200 km from the Abqaiq area to Yanbu on the Red Sea, TRT World reported.
What happened on Monday?
At 3:42 a.m. Riyadh time, residents received a Civil Defense alert on their mobiles about a possible aerial threat, Arab News reported. A few minutes later, a second alert said the danger had passed.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki later said a ballistic missile fired at the capital had been intercepted. He said coalition forces then destroyed two launch platforms in Sanaa, including the one used in that attack. In a further statement carried by Reuters, the coalition said it had also destroyed five tunnels used to store missiles, four more launchers and a storage site.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree gave the group’s version on X. He said it had fired a ballistic missile at the airport and used drones against crude oil pumping stations along the pipeline, TRT World reported.
Why do the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia matter to the West?
The short answer is oil and shipping. With the Strait of Hormuz largely shut by the wider war, the East-West pipeline has become a key route for getting Gulf crude to market, Reuters said. It carries oil overland from the eastern oil fields to Red Sea export terminals.
That makes any threat to the pipeline a concern for global oil markets. The line was already closed briefly in September, as a safety step, after a drone strike that Saudi and Iraqi officials said was launched from Iraqi territory.
There is also a shipping angle. According to Reuters, Houthi forces seized key ground on the Yemeni shoreline of the Red Sea in September and advanced in the direction of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Tankers and container ships use that narrow passage on the route between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.
What led to the latest Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia?
Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis took Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in 2015 to back the internationally recognized government. Fighting then eased under a UN-brokered truce that largely held from 2022.
According to Reuters, the latest escalation has effectively ended that truce. The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, have repeatedly launched missiles and drones at Saudi oil installations, harbors and airports in recent weeks. Riyadh, in turn, has stepped up strikes inside Yemen.
The airport has already been hit once this month. An attack on October 10, claimed by the Houthis, killed 13 people. Two terminals reopened for limited flights on Sunday, Arab News reported.
How have the two sides described the fighting?
The coalition says its strikes respond to repeated Houthi attacks and attempts to target civilians. It also says its operations comply with international humanitarian law, according to Arab News.
The Houthis, for their part, accuse Saudi Arabia of being responsible for attacks against them, TRT World reported. On Saturday, the group also claimed to have struck the Rabigh refinery and an Aramco site at Yanbu. Saudi Arabia did not confirm those claims either.
Saudi officials have also reported debris from intercepted missiles. On Sunday, falling fragments injured two people in Khamis Mushayt and Ahad Rafidah, a Civil Defense spokesman said. Debris also landed in several places in western Saudi Arabia on Saturday, including near Mecca. Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, head of religious affairs at the Grand Mosque, condemned the strikes toward the holy cities.
What happens next with the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia?
Diplomacy is moving in parallel. Officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, the three members of the so-called Mecca Pact, were expected in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iran’s leadership, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the plans. It would be the first high-level meeting between Iran and all three countries since the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia escalated.
None of the outlets we checked had reported new truce talks between the coalition and the Houthis as of Monday.
How to follow live coverage
Middle East channels give the closest coverage of this story. Al Jazeera English and TRT World report regularly from the region, and BBC News and Sky News carry updates for UK and US viewers. If you read Arabic, see our guide to Arabic news channels you can stream. More stories are on our Hot Topics page.
Coming soon: the NewsLive streaming app. We’re building one subscription for live international news on Android, Roku, Fire TV and desktop. The service is under development — follow NewsLive for launch updates.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Houthis say they attacked in Saudi Arabia?
They said they targeted pumping stations on the East-West oil pipeline and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia had not confirmed damage from those claimed strikes when Reuters reported them.
What is the East-West pipeline?
It is a Saudi Aramco pipeline of about 1,200 km that carries crude from the east of the kingdom to Yanbu on the Red Sea. It offers a route around the Strait of Hormuz.
Have the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia ended the Yemen truce?
Reuters reports that the new round of fighting has in effect ended the UN-backed truce, which had mostly held since 2022. We found no reports of new ceasefire talks as of Monday.
