Houthi military claims allege that they hit the Aramco facility in Jeddah with Quds-2 missiles, but without confirmation from Saudi Arabia.
Houthi rebels said they fired missiles at a Saudi Aramco oil facility in the Red Sea city of Jeddah – the latest in a series of cross-border missiles and a drone that a Yemeni group has claimed against the kingdom.
There was no immediate confirmation of Thursday’s attack by the oil giant or the authorities of the kingdom.
Houthi citing Yahya Saree on Twitter said the rebels hit the Aramco facility in Jeddah with Quds-2 missiles at the break of day Thursday in retaliation for a six-year Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
He posted an online satellite image that matched North Aramco’s Jeddah Bulk Plants, where oil products are stored in tanks. The rebels said they struck at the same facility in November last year, an attack by the Saudi-led coalition that later exploded at the plant.
Saudi Aramco, which has the largest oil production and export facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, more than 1,000km across the country from Jeddah, did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Iranian-linked rebels have hit Aramco’s facilities in the past, highlighting the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia’s expensive oil infrastructure.
القوة الصاروخية تتمكن بفضل الله من إستهداف شركة أرامكو السعودية في جده فجر اليوم بصارةخ مجنح نوع قدس الدس
ي تي هذا الاستهداف في اطار الرد الطبيعي والمشروع على استمرار الحصار الغاشم والعدوان على شعبنا العزيز pic.twitter.com/oTiL0xk2v6– العميد يحيى سريع (@ arm21ye) March 4, 2021
Translation: The missiles have targeted Saudi Aramco in Jeddah at dawn with Quds-2 marine missiles, and the blow was right thanks to God. This focus falls within the framework of the natural and legitimate response to the continuation of the brutal siege and aggression against our loved ones.
The plant, which is a temporary storage facility for gasoline, diesel and other petrochemicals before circulation, sits just southeast of Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport, a major airport that handles travelers Muslim going to Mecca.
Flights arriving at the airport crashed or flew in circles early Thursday morning without explanation, according to tracking data from the FlightRadar24.com website.
Cross-border attacks
The Iran-based movement, which has been fighting a Saudi-Emirati-led military coalition for six years, has staged cross-border attacks on Saudi cities, mostly targeting southern Saudi Arabia. The coalition says it has captured the majority of attacks.
On Thursday, the coalition said it had destroyed ballistic missiles fired at Jazan in the south of the kingdom by Houthi forces, in a statement made by Saudi state media groups.
“The coalition forces were able, on Thursday morning, to launch an unmanned explosive device with the Houthi militia with the support of Iran,” the arguments of the coalition, Colonel Turki Al-Maliki, said: add that the planes were launched deliberately to target. civil matters and civilians themselves. “
The coalition seized into Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis overthrew the internationally recognized government led by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The conflict is widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis deny that they are Tehran puppets and say they are fighting a corrupt system.
The rebels’ latest appeal comes after the United States on Tuesday sanctioned two Houthi leaders, blaming them for civilian deaths and denying the link with Iran.