Yemeni drones strike Aramco oil facilities, Najran airport

TEHRAN — Yemeni Armed Forces launched back-to-back drone strikes on August 20, targeting a sensitive military installation at Najran Airport and a major Aramco oil facility in southern Saudi Arabia.

Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said both operations achieved their objectives, framing the action as a direct response to persistent Saudi drone incursions over Saada province.

A naval blockade on Saudi shipping

The Najran strikes mark the latest enforcement move under a strategic doctrine outlined by Saree on August 19.

Sanaa has established three non-negotiable equations to counter foreign aggression: imposing an equal maritime siege, striking enemy troop concentrations anywhere they assemble, and actively defending Yemeni sovereignty against airspace breaches.

The naval campaign has already crippled Saudi maritime logistics. Between July 20 and August 19, Yemeni naval forces targeted eight Saudi oil tankers across the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea.

Another 48 Saudi oil vessels were intercepted and turned back, including 34 in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

This aggressive enforcement has halted nearly 85 percent of the kingdom’s oil exports passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait toward Asian markets.

To reduce exposure, commercial vessels now regularly broadcast “non-Saudi cargo” flags, while international insurance companies require complete data on cargo origin and crew nationalities before granting clearance.

Illustrating the dominance and the ultimatum

On the battlefield, Yemeni units continue to inflict heavy losses on Saudi-backed mercenary units.

A 10-minute combat compilation published by Yemen’s War Media on August 21 illustrates this growing tactical dominance.

The video documents Rujum multi-rotor hexacopters dropping precision mortar rounds vertically onto Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) positions in Marib and along the western coast.

In one strike, a dropped munition hits a Saudi M1A2S Abrams main battle tank, triggering a massive secondary explosion that destroys the heavy armor.

Another sequence records a lethal double-tap strike on PLC technicals, where a second mortar bomb detonates as mercenary troops rush to assist initial casualties.

The strikes killed dozens of Saudi-backed mercenaries, destroyed heavy bulldozers, and incinerated weapons caches.

Offshore, Yemeni units sank two Saudi military landing ships transporting arms near Mokha port and destroyed over ten armed gunboats operated by Saudi-backed elements.

In an attempt to cover up these losses, Saudi-backed mercenaries claimed on Friday to have targeted Yemeni construction equipment in western Yemen. However, these claims fail to alter the strategic balance on the ground.

Sanaa’s military command has warned Riyadh that any further escalation will draw a swift, comprehensive response.

Saree declared that Riyadh has no choice but to permanently lift its blockade, end the aggression, pay delayed public salaries, and pull out all occupying forces.

The spokesman also renewed his appeal to Yemenis stationed in Saudi-backed camps, urging them to abandon enemy ranks and return home before further retaliatory operations take place.