Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan
Sanaa, Aug 9 (IANS) Yemen’s Houthi group said Sunday that it launched a drone attack on a Saudi Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern city of Jazan, as tensions between the two sides continue to escalate.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement posted on X that the drone struck the refinery in what he described as a “precise” attack.
Saree said the operation was carried out in retaliation for what the Houthis described as Saudi drone incursions into the airspace of Saada and Hajjah, two Houthi-held provinces in northern Yemen along the border with Saudi Arabia, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Houthis did not provide evidence of the attack or details about any possible damage or casualties.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said that industrial security firefighting teams of Saudi Aramco had extinguished a fire at one of the facilities of the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan, with no injuries reported.
The fire broke out early in the day, and relevant authorities are completing the necessary procedures to address the incident, the ministry said on X, without specifying the cause of the fire.
The latest claim comes amid escalating tensions between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
On July 20, the Houthis announced a maritime ban on Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea, citing an alleged Saudi blockade of Houthi-held areas.
The group has also claimed multiple attacks on Saudi-linked vessels, energy sites and airports, while the Saudi-led coalition has resumed limited airstrikes on key Houthi military targets in Yemen.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.
–IANS
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