Saudi-Led Coalition Says It Hit Houthi War Resources as Iranian Media Claim Dammam Strike
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it carried out a “precision” military operation on Sunday morning, 1 November 2026, against resources the Houthis use to launch ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki announced the operation in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, without naming the target (Al Arabiya, Arab News). Hours later, Iranian state media claimed that a “Yemeni strike” had set an industrial complex in Dammam, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, on fire. Saudi authorities had not confirmed that claim at the time of writing.
- The Saudi-led coalition says it carried out a ‘precision’ operation on Sunday morning, 1 November, against resources the Houthis use for ballistic missile and drone attacks
- The coalition did not name the target; the Houthi-run Saba agency says two airstrikes hit a Yemen Oil Company facility in Bajil, Hodeidah, injuring three civilians
- Later on Sunday, videos showed thick black smoke over an industrial area of Dammam; Iran’s IRNA claimed a ‘Yemeni strike’ caused the fire
- Saudi authorities had not confirmed any attack in Dammam at the time of writing, and Defense and Tech found no formal Houthi claim for it
What the coalition says
Al-Maliki said the coalition’s Joint Forces Command launched the operation in response to “deliberate and systematic attacks” by the Houthis on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He accused the group of “exploiting vital resources” to build up its military capabilities, “particularly ballistic missiles and drones”, and said the operation aimed to counter threats to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and shipping in the southern Red Sea. He said the coalition would keep taking military measures and warned that the Houthis would “bear the consequences” if attacks continued (Arab News, Al Arabiya).
The Saudi outlet Ajel said the operation came days after Saudi air defences intercepted ballistic missiles and drones fired towards Riyadh, the Eastern Province, Taif and the south of the kingdom, and after the coalition said it had destroyed two ballistic missile launch platforms in Sanaa. It also followed a coalition strike on 13 October on what it called Houthi fuel and military supply sources in Sanaa, Hodeidah and Dhamar (Ajel).
What the Houthis say
The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported that Saudi aircraft carried out two airstrikes on a facility of the Yemen Oil Company in Bajil district, Hodeidah governorate, on Sunday morning, and that three civilians were injured (Saba). The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV gave the same casualty figure, according to Middle East Eye. The coalition has not commented on that figure, and it has not been independently verified.
The Dammam fire claim
On Sunday afternoon, videos shared on social media showed thick black smoke rising over an industrial area of Dammam. Iran’s state news agency IRNA said on X that “a Yemeni strike hit an industrial complex in Dammam”, sparking a large fire, and Mehr News Agency and Hezbollah’s Al-Manar carried similar reports (The Express Tribune, citing IRNA, Mehr). At the time of writing, Defense and Tech had found no statement from Saudi authorities about a fire or an attack in Dammam, and no formal claim by the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree for 1 November. The cause of the fire, the type of facility and any damage or casualties are unconfirmed.
Caution is warranted. On 20 October the fact-checking platform Misbar found that an earlier video circulated as a “Houthi-caused fire in Dammam” actually showed a fire at an oil products terminal in Russia’s Rostov region (Misbar).
Background: a widening Saudi-Houthi exchange
The Houthis have repeatedly claimed attacks on the Eastern Province. On 29 October Saree claimed six operations, including a drone strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and ballistic missile strikes on Ras Tanura, Aramco’s Abqaiq facility, King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Rabigh refinery and a military headquarters in Najran (Al Khabar Al Yemeni). Defense and Tech has not seen Saudi confirmation of those specific claims. For earlier rounds, see our report on Houthi claims of strikes on Aramco sites in Yanbu and Rabigh, and for the kingdom’s forces, how strong Saudi Arabia’s military is.
According to The Express Tribune, the 2022 truce between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia broke down in July, and both sides now exchange attacks almost daily (The Express Tribune). Separately, at the IISS Manama Dialogue on 1 November, Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said Gulf Cooperation Council states and Jordan had faced nearly 7,000 ballistic missile, cruise missile and drone attacks this year, which Bahraini reporting attributes to Iran (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Defense and Tech will update this report if Saudi authorities or the Houthis issue statements on Dammam, or if independent imagery becomes available.
Sources: Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki via SPA (Al Arabiya, Arab News, Ajel); Saba; Al Masirah via Middle East Eye; IRNA via The Express Tribune; Mehr; Misbar; Al Khabar Al Yemeni; Asharq Al-Awsat.
