Yemen’s Houthis say they struck oil facilities in Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi attacks on the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other provinces.

In statements late Saturday and Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group targeted a Saudi Aramco facility near the capital, Riyadh, with ballistic missiles and drones, sparking fires at the site, as well as unspecified Aramco facilities in the Khurais area.

The Saudi-led coalition disputed the Houthi claim of the attack on a facility near Riyadh. Spokesman Major-General Turki al-Malki called it an “attempt to divert attention from the scale” of the group’s losses, which he said are driving them to seek “illusory victories.”

Videos and satellite images posted online purport to show large plumes of smoke rising from the facility near Riyadh. Saudi Aramco did not comment on whether any of its facilities were hit.

According to Saree, the strikes were in response to at least 110 Saudi air and missile attacks over the previous 36 hours on Sanaa and the northwestern governorate of Saada, a Houthi stronghold, along with other areas. He did not provide details on specific targets or casualties, but media reports suggest that one strike damaged a Sanaa hospital, and videos posted online purport to show missiles striking the city.

Yemen’s Saudi-backed forces earlier confirmed the strikes but said they were targeting vital Houthi positions, claiming 700 fighters were killed or wounded in 24 hours.

The latest exchange marks a sharp escalation after four years of relative calm between the Iranian-backed Houthis and Riyadh following a UN-brokered truce in 2022. The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led intervention in support of the Yemeni government the following year.

Tensions reignited in July after government forces struck Sanaa Airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft carrying a Houthi delegation from landing. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia, declared the de-escalation over, and announced a naval blockade of the kingdom. By mid-August, they were launching coordinated missile and drone attacks on Saudi-backed government forces, prompting counteroffensives across several provinces.

Fighting escalated last month as the Houthis struck energy infrastructure in southern Saudi Arabia, including Saudi Aramco facilities and the East-West Pipeline. The group has also made major territorial gains, seizing Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the strategic Bab el-Mandeb shipping chokepoint.

Houthi forces are now pushing toward Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city and a crucial crossroads between the Houthi-held north, government-controlled south, and Red Sea coast. Its capture would open a direct route south toward Aden, the seat of the Yemeni government.

Saudi Arabia is preparing an offensive to reverse the Houthi gains, Reuters reported on Friday, citing officials and diplomats. Riyadh could mobilize more than 100,000 Yemeni government troops backed by Saudi airstrikes, the report said, with Western allies providing intelligence and material support but staying out of combat. Plans reportedly range from retaking the strategic Bab el-Mandeb coast to a broader multi-front assault across Houthi-held provinces.

The renewed fighting has worsened Yemen’s already dire humanitarian crisis. The UN World Food Program warned on Friday that three-quarters of the population is unable to meet its basic food needs.

The fighting has also collided with the US war against Iran, which has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz – the conduit for around 20% of global oil supplies. The Houthi seizure of Bab el-Mandeb, a key alternative, coupled with their blockade of Saudi oil exports and attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure, has put both shipping arteries under pressure and jolted energy markets. Brent crude has remained above $100 a barrel for weeks, closing at around $102 on Friday.