The Current Affairs Digest · ages 15+ · 2026-10-27
Houthis Claim Hits on Saudi Pipeline Stations as Hormuz Stays Largely Shut
Reuters reports the claims; Saudi Arabia has not confirmed them, and its coalition says it hit missile sites in Yemen.
Three pieces of geography explain why this story matters beyond Saudi Arabia. The Strait of Hormuz, the exit from the Gulf, has been largely shut by the war. The East-West pipeline, a 1,200-km Saudi crude line, gives oil another route. And the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, at the southern end of the Red Sea, is a key route for Gulf oil. Reuters reported on Monday 26 October that the Houthis, an armed group controlling northern Yemen, said they attacked the pipeline's crude pumping stations and Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. There was no Saudi confirmation.
The claims followed others made on Saturday, covering the pipeline, an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Rabigh refinery. A satellite image reportedly showed damage at a pumping station, according to the Express Tribune. The airport resumed operations at two terminals on Sunday, after an earlier attack this month that Reuters says killed 13 people, the deadliest in the kingdom in over a decade.
The Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, one of them used to fire at Riyadh, and on Monday five missile-storage tunnels, four launchers and a storage facility. Spokesperson Turki al-Maliki pledged 'deterrent operational measures'. Houthi-run media say Saudi strikes killed 16 people in and around Sanaa; that figure has not been verified.
Strikes have intensified since the Houthis captured strategic areas on Yemen's Red Sea coast last month, advancing towards Bab el-Mandeb. The fighting has effectively ended the UN-brokered truce that had largely held since 2022. Kotak Neo reports that oil eased on Monday after nearing six-month highs late last week, and that high oil has been the main drag on Indian shares.
Why it matters
With Hormuz largely shut, any hit on the pipeline or the Red Sea route narrows the ways Gulf oil reaches buyers, which feeds into prices worldwide.
THE BAB EL-MANDEB STRAIT. The strait is a key route for Gulf oil producers.