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 missile and drone attacks that the group has claimed against the kingdom in amidst the oppressive war in Yemen.
Saudi Arabian state media did not immediately recognize any incident in Jiddah. But overnight, the military coalition that the Saudis are leading against the rebels announced that the Houthis had fired two drones loaded with explosives towards Khamis Mushait, a city in the southwest of King Khalid Air Force Base, and later a missile. ballistic to the southern province of Jizan. There were no immediate reports of victims.
Brig. General Yehia Sarie, a Houthi military spokesman, tweeted that the rebels fired a new Quds-2 cruise missile at the facility. He posted an online satellite image that matched Aramco’s North Jiddah Bulk Plant, where oil products are stored in tanks. Iranian-backed rebels claimed they hit the same installation Last November, an attack that the Saudi-led coalition later acknowledged caused a fire at the plant.
Although these attacks rarely cause damage or casualties, attacks on large oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has shaken the energy markets and the world economy.
The Jiddah plant, which serves as a temporary deposit of gasoline, diesel and other petrochemical products before distribution, is southeast of King Abdulaziz International Airport, an important airfield that receives Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
Flights arriving at the airport were diverted or flew in circles on Thursday morning without explanation, according to tracking data from the website FlightRadar24.com.
An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw no smoke coming out of the facility on Thursday morning.
The United States Consulate in Jeddah issued an alert to Americans citing the attack on Aramco’s facilities, among other drone attacks reported in the south of the kingdom. He said he was unaware of any victims 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 now has a publicly traded stake on the stock exchange, did not respond to a request for comment. Its shares traded slightly on Thursday on the Tadawul stock exchange in Riyadh, with the international reference price of crude oil, Brent, rising to more than $ 64 a barrel.
Since 2015, the Houthis fighting the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen have targeted international airports, along with military facilities and critical oil infrastructure, in Saudi Arabia. In recent months, rebels have stepped up their attacks, launching drones and missiles repeatedly against the kingdom’s Patriot missile batteries. Earlier this week, a ballistic missile hit even the capital, Riyadh, where it was intercepted and exploded in the sky, scattering shrapnel over the city.
The conflict in Yemen broke out almost six years ago, after the Houthis invaded the capital and took over much of the north of the country. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has launched a bombing campaign to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.
Now mired in an impasse, the war has killed more than 12,000 civilians, pushed millions to the brink of starvation and spawned the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Saudi Arabia has faced much international criticism for its air strikes, which killed civilians and hit non-military targets in Yemen.