Fire erupts near Riyadh airport as Houthis claim attacks on Saudi capital

Smoke and flames have been seen near Riyadh's international airport as Yemen's Houthis claim to have attacked "sensitive" sites in the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia had sent alerts warning of potential danger around Riyadh but has not yet confirmed the Houthis' claims.

The Iran-backed Houthis have been launching attacks against Saudi cities, energy infrastructure and shipping, creating new threats to global oil supplies.

Yemen's Houthis say they have attacked "sensitive" sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh with missiles and drones, hours after flames and a large plume of smoke were seen near the city's main airport.

Saudi Arabia had sent alerts on Saturday, local time, warning of potential danger around Riyadh, amid an escalation in Houthi attacks in the kingdom.

Reuters video and photographs showed a huge pillar of black smoke rising in the area, with the airport highway, main terminal building and other facilities in the foreground. At one point in the video, flames were visible rising from behind what appeared to be fuel tanks.

The Houthis did not specify what they had targeted in Riyadh, but said they had also attacked an Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, a key Saudi oil export hub.

The Houthis said the operation came in response to an attack in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi government's media office in response to Reuters questions about the smoke and the overnight alerts, nor was there any immediate Saudi confirmation of the Houthis' claims of attacks.

Saudi civil defence sent the alerts by phone overnight for potential danger of aerial attacks in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, before issuing an all-clear on Saturday morning.

A Reuters journalist in Riyadh's Olaya area heard booms before the all-clear was sent.

Although some alerts had been issued in Riyadh this year after the start of the US-Iran war, these were the first since the escalation began with the Houthis in July.

The Houthis, who ⁠control ​the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, ​have been launching attacks against Saudi Arabia since declaring a naval blockade against Riyadh in July , with strikes targeting Saudi vessels in the Red ​Sea.

The attacks have targeted Saudi cities, energy infrastructure and shipping, creating new threats to global oil supplies and putting at risk the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded.