Houthis say they bombed Saudi Aramco site in Jeddah

Source: Reuters Published: 2020/11/23 17:33:41

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group on Monday said it fired a missile at a distribution station operated by the Saudi Aramco oil company in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah and struck it.

There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim made by the group's military spokesperson, who warned ­foreign companies and residents in Saudi to exercise caution as "operations will continue."

Aramco's oil production and export facilities are mostly in Saudi's Eastern Province, more than 1,000 kilometers across the country from Jeddah.

A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said the attack was carried out with a Quds-2 type winged missile.

He also posted a satellite ­image with the label "north Jeddah bulk plant-Saudi Aramco." Google Maps shows a facility matching that image and description on the northern outskirts of Jeddah.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 to restore the Yemeni government ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by Houthi forces in late 2014.

Cross-border attacks by Houthi forces have escalated since late May when a truce prompted by the novel coronavirus pandemic expired. The Saudi-led coalition has responded with air strikes on Houthi-held territory.

The Houthi group controls most of north Yemen and most large urban areas. They say they are fighting a corrupt system.

Sarea said the strike had been carried out in response to the Saudi-led coalition's actions in Yemen.



Posted in: MID-EAST

blog comments powered by Disqus