By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they have launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting oil facilities owned by state-run Saudi Aramco company and military sites, coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the kingdom’s military intervention into Yemen.
The Iran-aligned group on Friday said they launched attacks on Thursday against King Abdulaziz military base and targeted Aramco facilities in Ras Tanura, Rabigh, Yanbu and Jizan.
“The operation has successfully fulfilled its objectives,” Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yehia Sarie said in a televised speech on Friday.
“We affirm that we are ready to carry out a more severe and more cruel military operation in the coming period.”
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry described the assault on Jizan as a barrage of eight bomb-carrying drones launched by the Houthi rebels.
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According to al-Arabiya TV channel, Saudi Arabia’s air defences intercepted a ballistic missile over the southern province of Najran.
Saudi Arabia has faced an increasing number of such assaults and the tempo has not slowed since it offered a ceasefire deal to the Houthis on Monday.
The attack in Jizan, some 970km (600 miles) southwest of the capital, Riyadh, on the Red Sea, struck a distribution facility just on Thursday, the Saudi Energy Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
“The attack resulted in a fire in one of the terminal’s tanks,” the statement said, without elaborating. “The attack left no casualties.”
Saudi Arabia did not specifically identify the area struck.
However, Jizan is home to a new refinery and port facilities for the energy giant, Aramco. The refinery, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, sent its first shipment abroad last year.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it plans to take deterrent actions to protect oil export facilities following the series of attacks, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Benchmark Brent crude rose to over $63 a barrel in early trading on Friday after the attack.
