Sources in Sanaa reported hearing explosions in the Yemeni capital on Tuesday 13 October 2026, saying they followed air strikes carried out by warplanes, in the latest development in a mutual military escalation between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi group.
Coalition warns of evacuation of oil facility in Sanaa
The reports of the explosions came after a warning issued by the Saudi-led coalition, which called on civilians to evacuate a site belonging to the Yemen Petroleum Company and nearby storage areas in Sanaa, ahead of what it described as impending “operations”. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the evacuation request was intended to protect residents, without specifying the nature of the operations.
The area covered by the warning is in Asbahiya, west of Sanaa, on a hill overlooking the capital, with a petrol station used by residents nearby. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree responded that any attack on Sanaa would be met with what he described as a “harsh and painful” response in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Houthis threaten to target Saudi oil facilities
The group renewed its warning on the same day against using Saudi airspace, amid attacks targeting airports inside the kingdom in previous days. The Houthis also deemed Saudi oil company Aramco’s facilities “legitimate targets” and called on workers and residents to stay away from them.
Mohammed al-Bukaiti, a member of the group’s political bureau, said military operations against Saudi Arabia would continue and could target oil and vital facilities if Riyadh did not respond to calls to end the war. In simultaneous developments inside Yemen, the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel said two air strikes targeted Kamaran Island in the Red Sea, while a third strike targeted the Al-Qanawis district north-west of the city of Hodeidah.
It added that further air strikes took place in Al Jawf governorate, attributing those strikes to Saudi Arabia. The escalation follows missile and drone attacks that the Houthis said they had carried out towards Saudi Arabia, including an attack targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The coalition said on Tuesday that it had intercepted three drones north of the Saudi capital.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for an immediate halt to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia during a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. He said there was no justification for the attacks and that they could not be accepted, calling for diplomacy and political solutions to be prioritised to prevent further escalation and instability in the region.
