DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they attacked a Saudi oil facility in the port city of Jiddah on Thursday, the latest in a series of cross-border missile and drone attacks the group has claimed against the kingdom. in the middle of the heavy war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s state media did not immediately acknowledge any incident in Jiddah. But overnight, the military coalition led by the Saudis against the rebels announced that the Houthis had fired two explosive-laden drones at Khamis Mushait, a southwestern town with King Khalid Air Base, and later a ballistic missile towards the southern province of Jizan. . There were no direct reports of casualties.
Brig. General Yehia Sarie, a military spokesman for Houthi, tweeted that the rebels had fired a new Quds-2 cruise missile at the facility. He posted a satellite image online that matched Aramco’s North Jiddah bulk plant, where oil products are stored in tanks. The Iranian-backed rebels claimed they hit the same facility Last November, an attack that the coalition led by Saudi Arabia later recognized had sparked a fire at the factory.
While such attacks rarely cause damage or casualties, strikes on major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, have shaken energy markets and the global economy.
The Jiddah plant, which serves as a temporary warehouse for gasoline, diesel and other petrochemicals before they are distributed, is located just southeast of the city’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, a major airport that handles Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
Flights entering the airport were diverted or otherwise flew in circles around early Thursday morning with no explanation, according to tracking data from the FlightRadar24.com website
An Associated Press reporter on site saw no smoke immediately rising from the installation on Thursday morning.
The US Consulate in Jiddah has warned Americans, citing the attack on the Aramco facility, among other reported drone strikes in the south of the kingdom. It said it was unaware of casualties and urged Americans to “review the immediate precautions to be taken in the event of an attack.”
Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s oil giant that has now publicly traded some of its value in the stock market, did not respond to a request for comment. The stock rose slightly on the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh on Thursday as the international crude oil benchmark, Brent, rose to over $ 64 a barrel.
Since 2015, the Houthis fighting the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen have targeted international airports, military installations and critical oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. In recent months, the rebels have escalated their attacks, repeatedly crashing drones and missiles into the kingdom’s Patriot missile batteries. Earlier this week, a ballistic missile reached the capital, Riyadh, where it was intercepted and exploded in mid-air, spreading shrapnel across the city.
The conflict in Yemen broke out almost six years ago, after the Houthis invaded the capital and seized much of the north of the country. A Saudi-led military coalition launched a bombing campaign to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.
Now stuck in deadlock, the war has killed more than 12,000 civilians, pushed millions to the brink of famine, and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia has faced widespread international criticism for its air strikes that killed civilians and hit non-military targets in Yemen.