The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) said on Wednesday it had targeted Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran, King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh. It said they launched ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

YAF said it would continue operations against airports and oil facilities in the coming days, as tensions with Saudi Arabia escalate.

YAF said the threatened locations were legitimate targets and described their attacks as retaliation for Saudi strikes on Yemen.

Sources said Aramco headquarters suffered extensive damage, Reuters reported.

Civilians in the Saudi capital Riyadh reported hearing an explosion above their city, DW reported on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia has faced widening strikes over the past week. A strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday killed 13 people.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said that recent attacks on Saudi Arabia could impact people "everywhere", as energy costs rise globally and multiple conflicts rage in the crude-rich region.

"The Saudi economy is important for the region and the world, and in that sense, these developments have potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere," Georgieva said at a news conference during the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Bangkok, according to AFP.

The Saudi-Yemen’s escalating conflict has dealt a blow to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious plans to transform and diversify the Saudi economy and reduce its reliance on oil.

YAF says they have been retaliating for the kingdom's backing of its proxy forces in the Yemen war that restarted last month.

The UN brokered a 2022 truce between the warring sides in Yemen that kept a fragile peace until this year.