The Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen targeted on Tuesday oil infrastructure and military compounds in Saudi Arabia with drones and ballistic missiles, the movement said today on its broadcast channel Al Masirah.
Saudi Aramco's oil facilities in Jeddah were targeted in the attack, said the movement, which has been fighting a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen for over six years now.
"In response to the crimes of the US-Saudi aggression against our people and the continuation of the siege, the Armed Forces carried out the 7th of December qualitative military operation targeting a number of enemy military targets in Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Jizan, Najran and Asir," the Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Sare'e said in a televised statement on Tuesday, Al Masirah reported.
Apart from Aramco sites, the Houthis also targeted with drones and missiles the building of the Saudi defense ministry in Riyadh, the King Khalid airport, and other military and sensitive targets, the Yemeni movement said on Tuesday.
Saudi Aramco did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Reuters.
Fighting in Yemen has been ongoing for six years now after the Iran-affiliated Houthis overturned the elected president, which prompted Saudi Arabia-his ally-to wage war on the rebel group. In response, the Houthis have made Saudi Arabia's oil facilities their preferred target of attacks.
The Houthis have claimed a number of attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure in recent years. The most notable attack that the Yemeni rebel group claimed responsibility for was the September 2019 attacks on Saudi Aramco's oil facilities that cut off 5 percent of daily global supply for weeks.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have said that it was Iran-and not the Houthis-who was responsible for the attack.
In September this year, Saudi Arabia said it had prevented yet another attack by the Yemeni Houthis, this time in the city of Jazan, which is home to extensive Aramco oil infrastructure.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Comments
"What do you imagine the Saudis did to prevent these type attacks during the initial F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held Dec 3-5, 2021 in Jeddah and watched by maybe 400 million people on TV? Refinery in Jeddah is smallest of 7 in KSA."
As an aside, while watching the race, you could see some tanks (oil refining related ?) just outside the race course outer chain link fencing.