Yemen's Houthis says it has attacked Aramco facilities

Yemen's Houthis says it has attacked Aramco facilities
Yemen's Houthis claimed an attack on Saudi Aramco facilities in Ras Tanura, in the east of the kingdom, and other locations including Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast.
2 min read
05 September, 2021
The Houthis claimed an attack on Aramco [Getty]

Yemen's Houthi group attacked oil facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Ras Tanura, in the east of the kingdom, and other locations including Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast, a military spokesman for the Iran-aligned group said on Sunday

The group said it attacked the facilities with drones and ballistic missiles, he said.

Debris from the interception scattered across the eastern city Dammam, injured two children and damaged 14 homes, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense.

The severity of the injuries was unclear. 

"Saudi Air Defense has intercepted and destroyed (3) ballistic missiles and (3) bomb-laden drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia," spokesperson Brigadier General Turki Al-Malki said in a statement, calling it "brutal, irresponsible behaviour" by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

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The Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels told state-run television it would take "strict measures" to protect civilians.

In August, the rebels escalated operations using unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles, and Saturday's interception comes four days after a drone hit Abha International Airport in the south, wounding eight people and damaging a civilian plane.

It also comes a few hours before Hans Grundberg, the UN's new envoy for Yemen, officially assumes his duties Sunday.

In Dammam, Twitter users reported hearing a loud explosion.

Eastern Saudi Arabia is home to major oil infrastructure. A previous attack in September 2019 temporarily halted half of the kingdom's oil production.

Saudi Arabia intervened in the Yemen war on behalf of the internationally recognised government in 2015, shortly after the Huthis seized the capital of Sanaa.

Yemen's grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, resulting in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

While the UN is pushing for an end to the war, the Houthis have demanded the reopening of Sanaa airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations.