Houthi attack on Saudi oil facilities wounds 73, some operations halted
Times of Israel · LC · trust 31/100
Operations at some energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, were halted on Tuesday following attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that wounded more than 70 people, Saudi authorities said.
Fires erupted at the sites, and several people were injured as firefighting and other emergency teams rushed to the scenes to contain the blazes and assess the damage, the Saudi energy ministry said.
“The concerned authorities are dealing with the repercussions of the attacks,” the ministry added.
“The needed measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the facilities and workers and the continuation of work according to the approved operational plans.”
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said in an earlier statement that at least 73 people were injured in Houthi attacks on the southern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran.
The coalition vowed to respond firmly to the latest outbreak of hostilities, saying the latest escalation on the de facto OPEC leader was “dangerous.”
“The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia and resolutely confronts its hostile approach,” Royal Saudi Air Force Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement on X.
The Houthis did not comment on the attacks, but said a statement about “a large-scale military operation” deep inside Saudi Arabia would be released.
Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office overseeing the Saba news agency run by the rebels, took to social media to laud the attacks.
“The Saudi enemy has to understand that the time for committing crimes and massacres against the Yemeni people without response, deterrence or paying a price has ended,” he said.
The attacks came hours after the rebels blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike that hit a prison in Yemen’s northern province of Jawf. At least seven people, including a child, were killed and seven were wounded in the strike in the city of Hazem, the Houthis said
The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been launching attacks on Saudi Arabia since they declared a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting its vessels in the Red Sea.
On Monday, the Financial Times newspaper said Aramco’s Jazan oil facilities were hit in new strikes, and the damage was being assessed. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report, and Aramco has not commented.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile.
A Saudi-led coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power.
Tensions rose earlier this year between US allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as their partnership in the war in Yemen broke down, leading to the UAE pulling out of Yemen.
The civil war in Yemen has killed at least 150,000 people, according to UN estimates, and at times pushed the country to the brink of famine.
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