Houthis Strike Riyadh Airport, Aramco Refinery as Coalition Retakes — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Houthis struck King Khalid International Airport, an Aramco refinery, and other Saudi targets on October 5, 2026, according to a Houthi spokesman, with loud explosions reported across the Saudi capital.
- Saudi-led coalition forces destroyed Houthi weapons depots, booby-trapped boats, and naval mines in Hodeida and said they had cleared the Houthis from the Bab al-Mandab Strait area, including Mocha, Dhubab airport, and Al-Omari military camp.
- Yemeni military and coalition warplanes carried out more than 1,000 strikes and 100 sorties at dawn as part of a new offensive aimed at retaking all Houthi-held territory, including the capital Sanaa.
- Pakistan and Turkiye pledged to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia under the mutual defense pact signed in August, following an emergency meeting in Riyadh that committed the three nations to rapid deployment of agreed military forces.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned by the sharp escalation" and condemned continued Houthi cross-border attacks, as the UN reported the Yemen war has displaced more than 184,000 people.
- Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said global oil stockpiles were "scarily thin," and a Saudi energy source said an October 4 attack halted pumping on the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, a key export conduit since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz.
Why it matters: A Houthi strike hitting Riyadh airport and an Aramco refinery — paired with a halt to East-West pipeline flows and warnings of thin oil stockpiles — puts direct pressure on global energy supply during an escalating ground offensive. The Pakistan-Turkiye troop pledges under the mutual defense pact transform a regional proxy fight into a multi-state military commitment on Saudi soil.
Ask SkimNews
