Houthis warn of ‘painful’ response as Saudis strike Yemen fuel sites

• Coalition says struck sites ‘supported Houthi missile, drone operations’ • Aerial threat alerts issued for Riyadh, Eastern Province; blasts heard near Dhahran • Trump warns rebels; Erdogan pledges support for Riyadh RIYADH: Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Tuesday, targeting fuel and energy facilities it said were being used to support missile and drone attacks, as the Yemeni group threatened a “harsh and painful” response against Saudi airports, refineries and oil installations. Hours later, Saudi authorities issued warnings of potential hostile aerial threats in the kingdom’s Eastern Province and Riyadh. Residents in the Eastern Province received alerts saying the area faced a “hostile aerial threat” before being told shortly afterwards that the danger had passed.

Loud explosions were heard near Saudi Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran, according to witnesses. There was no immediate confirmation that the facility itself had been struck. The Saudi-led coalition said fragments from an intercepted projectile had fallen on a residential area in Dhahran. The developments marked a further escalation in the rapidly widening confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis, who have stepped up missile and drone attacks on the kingdom over the past week. Earlier on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had conducted military operations against “vital assets” used by the Houthis to sustain their war effort, Al Jazeera reported. Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki said the targets included the Al-Sabaha central station in Sanaa, underground fuel reserves and storage tanks, as well as energy facilities in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Dhamar. The coalition said the sites were being used to supply the Houthis’ missile and drone arsenal,…