The Houthi group confirmed that it had carried out a large offensive operation in the depths of Saudi Arabia, while the Ministry of Defense in the Kingdom said that its forces responded to these attacks, which it considered a "terrorist attack against global energy supplies."

The military spokesman for the Houthis, Yahya Saree, said that they had carried out a large offensive operation in the depths of Saudi Arabia, explaining that the attacks targeted Aramco in the port of Ras Tanura and other military targets in the Dammam area.

The military spokesman confirmed that the movement's fighters launched 14 drones and 8 ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia, explaining that other military sites were targeted in Asir and Jizan, indicating that these operations came within the framework of what he called the process of balance deterrence.

Saudi response

For its part, the Saudi Ministry of Defense confirmed that the eastern region of the Kingdom had been attacked by a drone and a ballistic missile.

The ministry's statement stated that these attacks were countered, and the first of these attacks was via a ballistic missile launched to target Aramco facilities in Dhahran, and caused shrapnel to fall near civilians.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense also said that a drone coming from the sea had been destroyed, which tried to target one of the reservoirs of Ras Tanura port, and described the attack as a failure, stressing that the attacking plane was shot down before reaching its target.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense declared that the attacks on Ras Tanura port and Aramco facilities in Dhahran were a terrorist attack against global energy supplies.

In turn, the Saudi Ministry of Energy said that one of the two attacks targeted the largest oil shipping ports in the world, and described the attacks against the Kingdom as sabotage attacks and a blatant violation of all international laws and norms.

She added that the attacks target the global economy to a greater extent, calling on the world’s countries and organizations to stand against these actions.

The Houthis launched 14 drones and 8 ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia (Reuters)

The American Embassy

In the context, the US embassy in Saudi Arabia advised its citizens to take precautionary measures and review their security precautions after reports of possible missile attacks and explosions in Dhahran, Dammam and Khobar.

A former advisor to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, Salem Al-Yami, commented on the US embassy’s invitation, saying that this invitation falls under the wrong messages that the Houthis may understand in a wrong way.

Al-Yami added in an interview with Al-Jazeera that people in the Kingdom live their lives normally, and they have confidence in the ability of the Saudi defense forces to respond to any attack.

For his part, Yemeni government spokesman Rajeh Badi attributed the attacks on Saudi Arabia to the US administration's haste to remove the Houthi group from the list of terrorist organizations without negotiating with it or taking any guarantees from it.

Alliance operation

Earlier, Saudi media reported the start of a military operation with air strikes against the Houthis in Sanaa and a number of Yemeni governorates, hours after the Kingdom announced the interception of 12 bombed drones launched by the Houthis on targets inside Saudi territory.

Saudi media quoted the Saudi-Emirati military alliance as saying that it carried out air strikes Sunday on military targets of the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Sanaa and several other provinces.

The coalition added that the specific operation is in line with international law and its customary rules, stressing that it will hold accountable "terrorist leaders" who try to target civilians.

He confirmed that he destroyed an air defense system belonging to the Houthis in Marib, pointing to his support for the operations of the National Army and the tribes in the battles in the governorate.

Sources told Al-Jazeera that the raids of the Saudi-Emirati military coalition targeted Houthi military sites in the capital, Sanaa, adding that most of the bombing targeted the "maintenance camp" of the Ministry of Defense.

Battles of Ma'rib and Taiz

Meanwhile, Yemeni military sources said that dozens of people were killed as a result of renewed clashes between government forces and the Houthis on several fronts in the Ma'rib governorate.

The same sources told Al-Jazeera that the army forces thwarted what it described as a massive infiltration attempt by the Houthis in the Sarwah district, west of the governorate, and the army's artillery targeted Houthi sites and vehicles.

In Taiz Governorate, a military source said that the Yemeni National Army and the Popular Resistance had completed control of all sites that were controlled by the Houthi group in the western countryside of Jabal Habashi District.

The media center of the Taiz Military Corridor quoted the source as saying that the battles had moved to the areas of Al-Twair and Al-Quwaiha in the isolation of Yemen in the Maqbana district.

He added that dozens of Houthi militants were among the dead and wounded.